
Pass Dcao A 

Book . ^^If 

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ALPHA LIBRARY. 



Napoleon and Marie Louise 



A Memoir 



By 

Madame La Generale' Durand. 




Chicago and New York: 
Rand, McNally & Company, 

Publishers. 






By !l^e"bf-nf?e 

MXmy and N.-i.^.v r:ic»l!5 



PEEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION. 



It is right that I should give to the public certain 
details regarding a work in which many persons 
still living figure unfavourably. It is much against 
my will that I find myself obliged to give these 
reminiscences prominence which* I did not intend 
for them. After the departure of the Empress Marie- 
Louise, in whose service I was for four years, I was 
desirous of collecting the various notes which I had 
made, under the name of Souvenirs. I retraced all 
that I had seen, the anecdotes to whose authenticity 
I was a witness, those which had been related to me, 
and which 1 had verified ; I depicted the illustrious 
persons whom I served with the sentiments of grati- 
tude and respect due to them. I was far indeed 
from insulting him whose misfortunes have been 
so great — that is a baseness of which I am incapable. 



IT PREFACE TO THE FIRST KDITION. 

I had sketched out their portraits, all prompted by- 
truth, but without any reflections, and especially 
without any evil speaking. 

A friend of my family, who has been living for 
some time in London, wrote to me a year ago, that 
he had collected a great deal of material, and was 
about to publish memorials of Napoleon and his 
family. He begged me to communicate to him the 
notes which he knew I possessed. Either from a 
presentiment or from prudence, I at first refused on 
the score of the many sorrows of my life, and my 
fear of reviving them by such publicity. He re- 
assured me by protesting that he would conceal my 
identity. Yielding to his renewed importunities, I 
sent him the memoranda for which he had asked. But 
what was my astonishment when several persons 
spoke to me of a pamphlet which had arrived from 
London, in which the Court of Napoleon was most 
severely handled. Although the work was forbidden, 
I succeeded in procuring a copy, and found in it 
a portion of the notes and portraits that I had sent, 
but totally disfigured by reflections as ill-placed as 
they were improper. The author, finding my por- 
traits insipid, wanted to render them piquant. He 
did not perceive that he made them odious. To 
these portraits are added unfounded anecdotes, which 
I owe it to the truth to deny, all the more that 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 1 

the author, in a preface which he had no right 
whatever to place at the head of his book, has ahnost 
pointed me out as the writer of it. 

I submit these Souvenirs to the public, just as 
I wrote them for my own family, and I give my 
name, because, if this work be worthy of blame, 
that blame should fall only upon myself, and not 
upon estimable persons who have been very unjustly 
accused.* 

* This final edition of the "M^moirei snr Napoleon et Marie- 
Louise" had been prepared by Madame la Grenerale Durand, who 
died without having published them. 

They could not have been placed before the publio at an earliAir 
date,— Editor's Nota. 



NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 



CHAPTER I. 

THII FAMILY OF NAPOLEON — JEROME, KING OP WESTPHALIA — THE 

PRINCESS OF WURTEMBURG THE DUC d'eNGHIEN — CAUSE OF THE 

DIVORCE OP NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE — MARIE- LOUISE. 

It was the end of 1809. The fresh victories just won 
by the Emperor had rendered his crown secure; his 
glory was complete, but for his ambition and his 
happiness an heir was needed. He could not hope 
for issue of his marriage with Josephine, and death 
had recently removed the eldest son of his brother 
Louis. The child had been generally regarded as his 
uncle's successor; some people went so far, indeed, as 
to assert that he was his son, and that the Emperor 
had given Hortense Beauharnais in marriage to Louis, 
solely in order to conceal the result of his own rela- 
tions with her. In support of what, after all, could be 
no more than a conjecture, it was said that Louis 
never could endure his wife, and thus it is that truth 
sometimes serves to propagate falsehood. It is certain 

B 



2 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

that Napoleon never was unduly intimate with Ilor- 
tense, but that he loved her as he loved her brother 
Eugene, because the two were the children of his wife. 
In the various marriages which he decreed, whether 
in his own family or among the personages of his 
Court, he never consulted inclination ; he listened to 
nothing except convenience. His will was an absolute 
command : this was proved in the case of his brother 
Jerome, who, having married Miss Patterson in America, 
without his consent, was forced to abandon his wife 
and child and to marry the Princess of Wurtemburg. 
It is said that for a long time the marriage was a 
nominal one, and indeed, that the King had vowed he 
would never have any relations with a wife who had 
been thus forced upon him. For three years he 
lavished his attentions upon almost all the beauties of 
the Westphalian Court. The Queen, an eye-witness 
of this conduct, bore it with mild and forbearing dig- 
nity; she seemed to see and hear nothing; in short, 
her demeanour was perfect. The King, touched by 
her goodness, weary of his conquests, and repentant of 
his behaviour, was only anxious for an opportunity of 
altering the state of things. Happily, the propitious 
moment presented itself The right wing of the 
Palace at Cassel, in which the Queen's apartments 
were situated, took fire ; alarmed by the screams of 
her women, the Queen awoke and sprang out of her 
bed, to be caught in the arms of the King, and carried 
to a place of safety. From that time forth the royal 



FRATERNAL DISCORD. 3 

couple were united and happy. The Queen was preg- 
nant when she lost the throne, and never was there a 
woman^Avho behaved more nobly than she did to her 
husband, who, homeless and proscribed, found rank 
and fortune in the realm of his father-in-law : these 
he owed to the affection of his wife, who never would 
abandon him. 

Louis was also obliged to submit to the absolute 
will of the Emperor, who insisted on his marrying 
Hortense Beauharnais, notwithstanding his attach- 
ment to another person. Hence the indifference of 
Louis to his wife. And yet Hortense was handsome, 
graceful, gifted with many talents, and one who might 
well have won a husband's love. She had three 
children by Louis ; the first and second are dead ; the 
only one remaining of that family is Prince Louis 
Napoleon, who was born in 1808. Hortense made 
many strenuous efforts to win her husband's heart, but 
all in vain. Nor did Louis ever forgive his brother 
for the violence that had been done to his inclinations. 
Dissension reigned between them from that time forth^ 
and when, after the death of the eldest son of Louis 
and Hortense, the Emperor asked him for the second 
in order that he might adopt him, Louis positively 
refused. The second boy died in Italy; Prince 
Louis is the third son of the King and Queen of 
Holland. 

Napoleon, who aspired to the glory of being the 
founder of a fourth dynasty, wanted, nevertheless, an 



* NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

heir, and an heir whom he might form betimes to 
his own maxims. From this time forth he caused 
his divorce to be talked of; he took care to let the 
idea spread without contradiction, and he saw that 
he might safely take that step whenever it should 
appear good in his eyes, without hurting the feelings 
of his subjects too keenly. Josephine disputed the 
ground with him for some time. She was universally 
liked ; she had as much ascendency over him as it 
was possible for any one to obtain; she was besides 
so graceful and amiable, she was so well versed 
in all the arts of pleasing, that she diverted many 
a storm ; and she alone had the gift of soothing a 
naturally imperious and irascible temper. 

When Bonaparte, then First Consul, desired to 
make himself Emperor, he encountered serious resist- 
ance in his own family. His mother and his brother 
Lucien made great efforts to induce him to renounce 
the idea, but in vain. The conflict ended, Madame 
Lsetitia and Lucien left France for Rome, from whence 
Lucien never returned until the Hundred Days. 

The opposition of his family troubled the First 
Consul but little; that which he had to encounter 
from the Jacobin and Republican parties was much 
more serious. The name of king or emperor was 
odious to both. They were still atta ched to that phan- 
tom of Equality to which they had raised altars. They 
dared not, however, say ' openly that they refused 
Bonaparte for a sovereign, and, while they hated him, 



THE ROYALISTS ACCUSED. 6 

they lavished adulation upon him. They pretended 
to believe that his only design in restoring the throne 
was to pave the way for the re-establishment of the 
Bourbon, and to act in France the part which Monk 
had played in England, and to this pretext they 
assigned their obstinate resistance. 

Cambac^res and Fouch6, who were specially charged 
with the smoothing of the path by which the First 
Consul was to reach the throne, made known to him 
the fear and suspicion to which his project had given 
rise. They added that the Royalists were conspiring 
in the dark, that the police were aware of this, but 
had not yet got hold of all the threads of the plot, 
which they would need to enable them to act with 
safety. A few days later, it was known that an 
individual, who was treated with great observance 
and respect, had had an interview with General 
Moreau. Fouch6 assured the First Consul that the 
personage was a prince of the house of Bourbon. 
The First Consul doubted this : he knew that the 
Dukes of Berry and Angouleme were in England ; he 
knew also that the Duke of Enghien had gone to the 
play at Strasburg several times, and returned the 
following day to Etenheim. Nevertheless, he was told 
over and over again that a conspiracy against him 
was being organized, and that the confederates prided 
themselves upon having a prince at their head. 

The personage who had held the reported con- 
ferences with Moreau had escaped arrest. All the 



6 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

information which Bonaparte received tended to make 
him resolve upon having the Duke of Enghien seized. 
The Prince was taken to Versailles, tried, and shot 
in the night. There is a mystery in this matter,* 
for the First Consul directed State-Councillor Real to 
go to Vincennes and bring the judgment to him. 
It was late when M. Real left Saint Cloud ; he went 
from thence to his own house, and when he arrived 
at Vincennes in the morning, all was over. 

The death of the Duke of Enghien was an addition- 
ally deplorable crime, in that he was innocent, and 
the trial of George proved that Pichegru had been 
taken for the Prince. 

So firmly convinced was the Duke of Bourbon 
that he owed the death of his son to Fouche and 
Talleyrand, that he never would go to the Court of 
the Restoration while they were there. 

Once seated on the throne, the Emperor sought 

for the means of providing himself with an heir. 

There was no hope of his wife's giving him a son, 

and thenceforth the idea of divorce was constantly 

present to him. Josephine dreaded, and did all in 

her power to avert, her fate ; but fortune had decreed 

her fall, and it was hastened by some differences which 

occurred between the Emperor and herself. Four 

months afterwards the divorce took place. 

♦ The mystery is dispelled by the " Memoirs of Madame de 
R^musat," and an extraordinary contribution by M. Fauriel to the 
history of the period, entitled " The liast Days of the Consulate." 
(Sampson Low and Co.) — Tran viator's note. 



MARRIAGE NEGOTIATIONS. 7 

No sooner was the deed done, than all Europe 
fixed its eyes on France, and a thousand conjectures 
were formed as to the princess who should be chosen 
as consort of the sovereign. Savary, Duke of Eo- 
vigo, was despatched to Russia to ask for the hand 
of a sister of the Czar Alexander. The negotiation 
appeared to be on the point of succeeding when the 
Empress-mother asked for time before she gave her 
consent. This adjournment was regarded as a refusal, 
and Austria having offered Marie-Louise, she was 
accepted. The public was still seeking among the 
various courts of Europe the Princess destined to 
wear the crown-matrimonial of France, when they 
learned that Napoleon had won one of whom they had 
never thought, a Princess of the Imperial house of 
Austria, a grandniece of Marie-Antoinette. 

When the Duke of Vicenza, our ambassador at 
St. Petersburg, waited upon the Empress-mother to 
announce to her the marriage of Napoleon, she 
thought he had come to receive her own reply, and 
hastened to tell him that she accorded her daughter 
to his master. The Duke, greatly surprised, was 
obliged to explain to the Empress that her postponement 
having been taken for a refusal, the offer of Austria 
had been accepted, and that his mission was to announce 
the marriage of Marie-Louise with his sovereign. 

Berthier, Prince of Neufchatel, received the nuptial 
benediction at Vienna, as proxy for the Emperor, and 
the Strasburg road was speedily thronged with eqin- 



8 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

pages conveying the household of the new Empress to 
Brannau, where she was to dismiss her own suite. 

Marie-Louise was then eighteen years and a half 
old; she had a majestic figure, a noble carriage, a great 
deal of freshness and bloom, fair hair which was not 
insipid, blue eyes, but they had animation in them, 
hands and feet which might have served as models for 
a sculptor. She was, perhaps, a little toa stout — a 
defect she soon got rid of in France. Such were the 
personal advantages which were first remarked in her. 
Nothing could be more gracious, more amiable than 
her face, when she was quite at ease, either in her 
private life or in the society of those persons with 
whom she was particularly intimate; but in public, 
and especially on her first arrival in France, her 
timidity gave her an embarrassed air which many 
people mistook for haughtiness. 

She had been very carefully educated ; her tastes 
were simple, her mind was cultivated, she expressed 
herself in French with facility, indeed with as much 
ease as in her mother tongue. She was calm, reflec- 
tive, kindly, and feeling-hearted, although not demon- 
strative ; she had all the feminine accomplishments, 
loved occupation, and did not know the meaning of 
ennui. No woman could have suited Napoleon 
better. Gentle, peaceable, a stranger to every kind 
of intrigue, she never meddled in public affairs, ajid 
indeed most frequently derived her knowledge of 
•hem from the newspapers. To crown the happiness 



MAKIE-LOUISK 



of the Emperor, it pleased Providence tnat this young 
Princess, who might have regarded him only as the 
persecutor of her family, the man who had twice 
obliged them to fly from Vienna, was delighted to be 
able to captivate him in whom fame acclaimed the 
hero of Europe, and soon came to regai'd him with 
the most tender afifectiou. 



iV NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISk. 



CHAPTER 11. 

ARRIVAL OF MARIE-LOUTSE AT BRANNAU — HER HOUSEHOLD — MAPAMK 
MURAT — DISMISSAL OF MADASIE LAJENSKI AND HER LITTLE DOG — 
MEETING OF NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE AT SOISSONS. 

Among the number of persons awaiting the new 
Empress at Brannau, there were several who had 
known Marie- Antoinette. All these j)icturecl to them- 
selves what must be the feelings of Marie-Louise on 
coming to seat herself upon the throne which had 
brousrht such misfortune to her orrand-aunt. 

The Princess arrived : there was nothing sad in 
her bearing; she was gracious to all, and had the 
faculty of pleasing almost everybody. She did not 
part with the persons who had accompanied her 
from Vienna without emotion, but she bore the sepa- 
ration with courage. At the moment when she 
stepped into the carriage that was to take her to 
Munich, the Grand Master of her household, an old 
man of sixty-five, who had come thus far with her, 
raised his clasped hands to Heaven, as if imploring 
Providence on behalf of his young mistress, and bless- 
ing her like a father. His eyes revealed a soul full 



QUEEN Caroline's tyranny. 11 

of great thoughts and sad recollections ; his tears 
drew answering tears from the witnesses of this 
touching scene. Of all her Austrian suite, her Grand 
Mistress, Madame Lajenski, who had been permitted 
to accompany her to Paris, was the only one that 
remained with her. She set out with her new house- 
hold without knowing a single person among those 
who formed it. 

Here I must briefly explain the composition of 
that household. The Princess Caroline, Madame 
Murat, then Queen of Naples, the Emperor s sister, had 
been charged with the arrangement of it, and she had 
come to Brannau to receive her sister-in-law. The 
Duchess of Montebello, handsome, prudent, the mother 
of five children, and who had lost her husband in ^he 
last battle, had been appointed Lady-in- Waiting (or, 
" of honour "), a poor compensation offered to her by 
the Emperor for the loss of her husband. The Coun- 
tess of Lu9ay, a gentle, good woman, with perfect 
manners, and who was familiar with the great world, 
was her Lady of the Bedchamber. I shall speak here- 
after of the Ladies of the Palace, whose functions, 
entirely ruled by etiquette, rarely brought them 
into personal relations with the Empress, but each of 
whom had, nevertheless, her pretensions, which were 
injured by the presence of Madame de Lajenski. The 
complaints they made to Queen Caroline induced her 
to commit an act of despotism by which her sister- 
in-law was deeply hurt. 



12 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE. 

The object of Madame Murat's ambition was to 
aquire a great ascendency over Marie-Louise, and if 
she had acted more adroitly she might have attained 
it. M. de Talleyrand said of her that she had the 
head of Cromwell on the body of a pretty woman. 
She had by nature a striking character, fine intelli- 
gence, great ideas, quick and supple wit, grace, and 
amiability ; what she lacked was the art of hiding 
her love of domination ; and when she did not attain 
her object, it was because she tried to reach it too 
quickly. From the moment at which she first saw 
the Princess, she believed herself to have divined her 
character, and she was completely mistaken. She 
took her timidity for weakness, her embarrassment for 
awkwardness ; she thought she had nothing to do but 
command, and she closed against her for ever the heart 
which she had aspired to rule. 

The presence of Madame de Lajenski had excited 
the jealousy and the fears of almost all the ladies of 
the Empress's household. They intrigued, they caballed, 
they told the Queen of Naples that she would never 
have either the confidence or the afi'ection of her 
sister-in-law, so long as she kept a person near her 
who had all the advantage of years of services 
bestowed and intimacy fostered. The Lady of Honour 
complained that her functions would be reduced to 
nothing if the Empress had with her a foreigner who 
would be all-in-all to her. At last they induced the 
Queen to demand of Marie-Louise that she should dismiss 



A CRUEL DEED. 13 

Madame Lajenski, although a promise had been made 
that she should remain in France for a year. The 
Princess, who sincerely desired to gain the affection 
of the persons with whom she would have to live, 
made no resistance, and Madame de Lajenski returned 
to Vienna, taking with her a little dog belonging to 
Marie-Louise. She was required to deprive herself of 
this dumb friend also on the pretext that the Emperor 
had frequently complained of Josephine's dogs. The 
Princess made these sacrifices with fortitude ; the 
odium of them fell upon the Queen of Naples. 

But Madame Murat did even worse than this ; 
after she had exacted the Empress's consent to the 
departure of Madame Lajenski, she gave orders to the 
ladies in attendance to prevent the former Grande 
Maitresse from entering the presence of Marie-Louise 
if she should come to take leave. This command was 
not obeyed; the ladies, shocked at such harshness, 
brought Madame Lajenski in by a back door; she 
passed two hours with her former pupil, and notwith- 
standing the reprimand which their conduct brought 
down on them from the Queen, they never repented 
of it. 

The Empress travelled by easy stages, and a fete 
was prepared at each town through which she passed. 
At Munich, a letter from the Emperor was handed to 
her, and arrangements had been made that one (brought 
from Paris by a page) should greet her each morn- 
ing when she rose. She wrote a rejjly before she 



14 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

resumed her journey, and a page started off for the 
capital with the missive. This epistolary interchange 
lasted during the entire journey, that is to say, fifteen 
days, and it was remarked that Marie-Louise perused 
the letters that were brought to her with growing 
interest. The Emperor's handwriting was very diffi- 
cult to read. The Duchess had often seen it in her 
husband's hands ; she helped Marie-Louise to decipher 
Napoleon s billets-doux, and the intimacy and confi- 
dence which arose from this were probably the cause 
of the Empress's strong attachment to her Lady-in- 
Waiting. She was always eager for these letters, and 
if the courier happened to be detained by any cause, 
she would ask over and over again whether he had 
not yet arrived, and what could have occurred to 
cause the delay. We must conclude that the corre- 
spondence was of a very charming nature, since it 
had already given birth to a sentiment which soon 
acquired great strength. 

Napoleon, on his part, was extremely eager to 
behold his young bride ; this marriage was more 
flattering to his vanity than the conquest of an empire 
would have been. He was particularly delighted 
because he knew that Marie-Louise had voluntarily 
consented, and not merely as a princess who sacrifices 
herself to great political interests. Several times he 
was heard to curse the ceremonial and the fetes that 
retarded the much-desired interview, which was to 
take place at Soissons, where a camp had been formed 



AN ARDENT BRIDEGROOM. 15 

for the reception of the Empress. Unable to control 
his impatience, the Emperor repaired thither twenty- 
four hours before the arrival of the Princess, and so 
soon as he learned that she was within ten leagues, he 
set off with the King of Naples to meet her. The two 
carriages encountered each other at four leagues 
distance from Soissons; the Emperor got out of his, 
opened the door of the Empress's, and rather flung 
himself into than entered it. The Prince of Neuf- 
chatel had given Marie-Louise a portrait of Napoleon, 
and she had so often looked at it that his features 
were familiar to her. Murat had also got into the 
carriage, and the two married couples regarded each 
other for a few moments in silence. This the Empress 
was the first to break, and she said in a tone very 
complimentary to the Emperor, " Sire, your portrait is 
not flattered." 

It was, however ; but love was already exercising 
its sweet influence, and she looked .at the Emperor 
with eyes prejudiced in his favour. Napoleon was 
charmed with her; indeed, such was his enthusiasm 
that he stopped at Soissons, where they were to have 
remained until the next day, for a few minutes only, 
and then went on at once to Compiegne. It appears 
that the entreaties of Napoleon and the urgency of 
Queen Caroline prevailed with Marie-Louise, and that 
she did not insist on denying her too happy bride- 
groom the privileges of a husband until after the 
religious marriage. 



16 liAPOL£ON AND MARl£-LOUiaKi 



CHAPTER in 

NAPOLEON. 

l<:nBMOirT OF THE BELIjGHOTJS MARRIAflB — THB EMPEK0B*8 LIFE— HIS 
PRIVATE HABITS — HIS PUBLIC BEHAVIOUR — HIS CHARACTEB — TRAITS 
OF KINDNESS AND BENEFICENCE, 

Everybody has read the details of the ceremony of 
the religious marriage of the Emperor and Empress. 
The great gallery of the Louvre, splendidly decorated, 
and furnished with six rows of benches on each side, 
was occupied by richly dressed women : at the end 
was the temporary chapel in which the clergy awaited 
the bridal pair. The Emperor, on his arrival, took the 
Empress by the hand. Her train was borne by four 
queens, those of Naples, Spain, Holland, and Wurtem- 
burg, followed by the kings, and the great officers of 
the Crown. It was a magnificent spectacle for the 
public. 

We, who were behind the scenes, had one of a 
different sort. The Emperor was a long time before he 
could settle himself comfortably into his gorgeous 
Spanish costume of white satin, embroidered in gold, 



NAPOLEON. 17 

with a mantle of the same covered with golden bees. 
He found his black velvet cap, adorned with eight 
rows of diamonds, and three white plumes fastened by 
a knot, with the regent blazing in the centre of it, 
particularly troublesome. This splendid headgear was 
put on and taken off several times, and we tried many 
different ways of placing it before we succeeded. In 
spite of ourselves, we were obliged to laugh at the 
awkward attempts of the kings to drape themselves 
gracefully in their mantles. The four queens con- 
demned to carry the mantle of the Empress were very 
much annoyed, and, notwithstanding our advice, did 
it extremely ill.* We were substituted for them so far 
as the entrance to the great gallery, and at that point 
they replaced us. 

In this place I must draw the portrait of Napoleon. 
He was then forty-one years old. In his youth he 
was very thin, and had a greenish-olive complexion, a 
long face, and dull eyes ; his whole physiognomy was 
anything rather than agreeable. 

In camp, and during his early campaigns. Napoleon 

feared no fatigue, braved the worst weather, slept 

under a wretched tent, and seemed to forget all care 

for his person. In his palace he bathed almost every 

day, rubbed his whole body over with eau de Cologne, 

and sometimes changed his linen several times in the 

* See Madame de Remusat's account of the conduct of Napoleon's 
sisters at the coronation of the Emperor and Josephine. For the prop(;r 
appreciation of this scene it must be borne in mind that the Qucen of 
Holland was Josephine's daughter. — Translator's note 



18 NAPOLEON AND MARIE -LOUISE. . 

day. His favourite costume was that of the mounted 
Chasseurs de la Garde. When travelling, he did not 
care what sort of lodging he had, provided that no ray 
of light could get into his bedroom ; he could not bear 
even a night-lamp. His table was supplied with the 
daintiest dishes; but he never touched them. His 
favourite fare was grilled breast of mutton, or a roast 
fowl, with lentils or haricot beans. He was very par- 
ticular about the quality of bread, and he drank none 
but the best wine, and very little of it. It has been 
stated that he drank eight or ten cups of coffee daily ; 
but this is a fable, to be discarded with so many 
others. He took a small cup of coffee after his break- 
fast, and the same after his dinner. It is true, he was 
so absent and preoccupied, that it has occasionally 
happened to him to ask for his coffee immediately 
after he had drank it, and to persist in asserting that 
he had not taken it. He ate very fast, and rose the 
moment he had done, without troubling himself as to 
whether those who were admitted to his table had 
had time to dine. It has also been asserted that he 
took the greatest precautions against poison; this, 
too, is a pure falsehood. Perhaps he was too careless 
in that respect. Every morning his breakfast was 
brought up to an aiite-room to which all persons who 
had obtained an audience-order had access, and 
where they had to wait, sometimes, long enough. The 
dishes, which were kept warm, were frequently left 
there for several hours until orders were given for the 



NAPOLEON. 19 

meal to be served. Dinner was brought in by servants, 
in covered baskets ; but nothing in the world could 
have been easier than to slip poison into the food if 
anybody had wanted to do so. 

He spoke in a loud voice, and when he was in a 
merry mood his peals of laughter could be heard from 
afar. He was fond of singing, although he had a bad 
voice, and never could sing an air in tune. He took 
particular pleasure in singing " Ah ! e'en est fait, je me 
marie," or " Si le roi m'avait donne Paris, sa grand 
ville." 

Every year he regulated his household " budget/' 
having statements of the expenditure in each depart- 
ment laid before him, and discussing the items. When 
he had arrived at the total, he struck off twenty, 
thirty, or forty thousand francs from the lump sum, 
saying this was enough, and that the household must 
be maintained on what he gave. In vain did the 
Grand Marshal, the Master of the Horse, the Grand 
Huntsman, the Grand Chamberlain complain and make 
representations; all was useless, and, as a matter of 
fact, nothing was worse done in consequence. 

The Emperor had the same way of dealing with his 
Ministers ; he retrenched and suppressed in detail, and 
when the budget was finally drawn up, he again 
reduced it by one-fourth or one-sixth. They 
grumbled, and declared that the public service suf- 
fered ; he merely laughed at them, and that was all 
they gained by their complaints. Being forced to 



20 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

economize, each man busied himself with his own 
department, and ended by finding that he could do 
with the allotted sum. 

Those who have lived in close contact with the 
Emperor know that he possessed tact and perception, 
that he knew how to manage and use men. To this 
talent he owed his power. It has been said that he 
despised everybody about him ; I do not know whether 
that is true or not, but it is of my own knowledge 
that he was cold and polite to those whom he did not 
Like, and that he said harsh and unpleasant things 
only to those whom he did like. He did not, how- 
ever, carry this to the extent of using expressions of 
contempt. I can confidently assert that the sayings 
which certain pamphlets impute to him were never 
uttered by him. He did not say that the Chamberlains 
were footmen, with only the difference that they wore 
red livery instead of green. It is equally false that 
he said he liked Savary because he would kill his own 
father if he (the Emperor) ordered him to do so. No 
sensible person would believe so atrocious an absur- 
dity. Numbers of people nowadays * are eager to run 
down Napoleon. I am convinced that those who now 
cry out against him most loudly, are the same who 
flattered him most egregiously. There are so many 
who want to have it forgotten that but for him they 
would have remained in the lowest classes of society, 
but they are mistaken ; the noise they make merely 

• 181&. 



NAPOLEON. 21 

evokes recollections anything but favourable to them- 
selves. Napoleon had faults enough without their 
being invented for him ; nor can any defame him 
without insulting the nation whose head he was for 
ten years, and also the sovereigns who allied theiu- 
selves with him. 

I have spoken already of his perception and quick- 
ness: I will now add that he had a great deal ol 
general information upon all subjects ; he was not a 
stranger to any art ; he loved letters, and appreciated 
learned men; he had singled out and attached to 
his person (as Grand Master of Ceremonies) Count de 
S^gur, whose wit, amiability, and songs were talked of 
long before he was known as the author of those 
works which have raised him to a high place among 
men of letters. His family, also, in which talent 
seems to be hereditary, was well placed at Court. The 
Count was an accomplished courtier, without servility ; 
he was never reckoned among the Emperor's flatterers 
before his fall or among his slanderers after. Napoleon 
learned, on becoming First Consul, that Marshal de Segur 
was living at Versailles, in poor circumstances. He 
desired Count de Segur to bring his father to the 
Tuileries. On his approach, the First Consul went to 
meet him, and the consular guard forming the line 
beat to arms. This token of honour, which had long 
been suppressed, visibly affected the old General, to 
whom at the same time Napoleon announced that his 
pension of 6000 francs was restored, and that he might 
draw six months' pay immediately. 



22 NAPOLEON AND MAlllE-LOUlSE. 

In the early days of his astonishing fortune, 
Napoleon did not imitate the conduct of those up- 
starts who above all things dread witnesses to their 
first estate. He welcomed those who had known him 
in the past, rendered them services, and treated them 
with his former familiarity. The day he was appointed 
First Consul he despatched a courier to Saint Denis, 
bearing a letter to M. Rulhiere, who had been a sub- 
lieutenant in the regiment of La Fere at the same 
time with himself, announcing that he had chosen him 
to be his secretary. He afterwards nominated him 
Secretary-General to the commission of government 
which he had just set up at Piedmont ; and he finally 
gave him the prefecture of Aix-la-Chapelle. Rulhiere 
did not live to take possession of this post : he had 
been attacked at Piedmont with a malady which all 
the art of medicine there could not define, and he 
died of it in Paris, whither he had gone for further 
advice. 

As Napoleon grew older and stouter, his face 
became more rounded and his skin clearer, his eyes 
act|^uired lustrt;, and nis <;ountenance nooility, with a 
great deal of expression. 

For three months after his marriage, the Emperor 
remained with the Empress night and day ; even the 
most urgent affairs could not induce him to leave her 
for more than a few minutes. He, who had a passion 
for work, who would occupy himself with his Ministers 
for eight or ten consecutive hours without being 



NAPOLEON. 23 

fatigued, he who tired out secretary after secretary, 
now summoned councils at which he did not appear 
until two hours after they were assembled ; he gave 
very few private audiences, and it was necessary to 
remind him several times of those which he could 
not possibly avoid granting. Such an alteration sur- 
prised every one; the Ministers were loud in their 
complaints ; the old courtiers merely looked on, and 
said that such devotion was too extreme to last. 
The Empress was the only person who never doubted 
the permanence of a sentiment which she shared, 
and which made her happy. 

Napoleon, it was said, had not always been thus 
amiable in private life. He was quick, choleric, irri- 
table, and subject to a nervous affection (familiarly 
known as " the fidgets ") which has given rise to 
scores of stories, one more ridiculous than another. 
It was even said that he was epileptic, subject to 
frequent attacks of the malady, and was occasionally 
unconscious for three or four hours at a time. 

Nothing can be more absurd than these reports. 
I spoke of them to one of his personal attendants, who 
assured me that he had never seen anything to justif}^ 
the popular belief, during six years which he had 
passed in Napoleon's service, and I can assert, on my 
own part, and during four years of my close attendance 
on the Empress, that I never perceived in the Emperor 
an}^ symptom of such a complaint. 

He was merry and familiar in private life ; fond 



24 NAPOLEON AND M.aJlil!.-LOUi8£. 

of pulling ears and pinching cheeks, as Marshal Duroc, 
Berthier, Savary, and several of his aides-de-camp ha<i 
reason to know. I have seen him, when present at 
the Empress's toilet, tease and plague her, pinching her 
neck and cheek. If he was vexed he took her in his 
arms, kissed her, called her grosse hete, and peace was 
made. Whenever the Emperor wished to play any of 
his tricks with Madame de Montebello, she repulsed 
him with ill-humour, and he left off immediately. 

He was amiable and kind to all who were about 
him. Among a thousand instances of this, I will 
relate one. Every one knows that he was very fond of 
hunting. Berthier, who was then Grand Huntsman, 
liked the sport very well also, but he preferred pur- 
suing it upon his own lands at Gros-Bois, to hunting 
with the Emperor. One day, after the season had 
begun, Berthier came to the " lever " of the Emperor, 
who asked him : 

" What sort of weather is it ? ** 
- " Bad weather, Sire." 

" Will there be good hunting ? '* 

" No, Sire, there will be no scent." 

"It must be put off, then." 

The order was given, and at eleven o'clock the 
Emperor came to breakfast with the Empress. The 
sun was shining brightly; it was in the month of 
February. They agreed to go out walking, and to 
take Berthier. He was inquired for, and the Emperor 
was informed that he had gone off to hunt at Gros- 



NAPOLEON. 25 

Bois. He laughed heartily at the trick which Berthier 
had played him, and vowed that he would never again 
take his word for the weather. 

The Emperor would be master in important affairs, 
but he bore with contradiction, and even liked it. 
When he was in Marie-Louise's apartment he would 
tease the " first ladies " about all sorts of things. They 
would often hold their own against him, and he would 
go on with the discussion, and laugh heartily when 
our young people, who were very frank and artless, 
said things which pleased him by their bold simplicity. 

One day he came into one of the salons, and there 

he found Mademoiselle M sitting with her back to 

the door. He made a sign to the ladies opposite to 
him to keep silence, and coming gently behind her, he 
popped his hands over her eyes. The only person she 
knew who could venture on such a familiarity with 
her was M. Bourdier, a respectable old gentleman, and 
First Physician to the Empress ; so she never doubted 
that the intruder was he. 

"Have done, M. Bourdier," she cried; "do you 
think I don't recognize your big ugly hands ? " (The 
Emperor's hands were beautiful.) 

" Big ugly hands," repeated the Emperor, restoring 
the use of her sight to her; "you are hard to please ! " 

The poor girl was so confused that she ran out of 
the room. 

Another time, he was in the Empress's room while 
she was being dressed, and he inadvertently trod on 



26 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

the foot of the lady ^no presided at her Majesty's 
toilet. He immediately uttered a loud cry as though 
he had hurt himself. 

" What is the matter with you ? " asked the 
Empress. 

" Nothing " said he, with a burst of laughter ; " I 
trod on Madame D 's foot, and I cried out, to pre- 
vent her from doing so ; you see I have succeeded." 

In the autumn which followed the Emperor's 
marriage, the Court passed some time at Fontainebleau. 
It was cold and damp in that vast palace. There 
were fires everywhere, except in the Empress's apart 
ment ; but she, being accustomed to stoves, objected to 
our fires, saying that they incommoded her. One day, 
the Emperor came to stay awhile with her, and on 
leaving the room he complained of the cold, and told 
the lady in attendance to have a fire lighted. When 
the Emperor was gone, the Empress forbid this to be 
done. The lady in attendance was Mademoiselle 
Rabusson, a young person who had just come from 
ficouen, and was very frank and natural. The 
Emperor returned two hours aftei' wards, and asked 
why his orders had not been executed. 

" Sire," said the lady, " the Empress does not wish 
for a fire ; she is in her own house {chez elle) and I am 
bound to obey her." 

The Emperor laughed heartily at this answer. 
Going back to his own room, he found Duroc there, 
and said to him : " Do you know what I have just 



NAPOLEON. 27 

been told at the Empress's ? {chez VImperatrice) that 
the place is none of mine, and they won't let me have 
a fire there." This anecdote amused us all in the 
palace a good deal. 

One day, when Napoleon was at breakfast with 
Marie-Louise, he perceived that he had forgotten his 
handkerchief. One was immediately brought him ; he 
unfolded it, and observing that it was embroidered, and 
trimmed with lace, he inquired how much a hand- 
kerchief like that might cost. 

" Well, from eighty to a hundred francs,*' answered 

Madame D , to whom the question was addressed. 

" If I were first lady," said he, " I would steal one 
every day." 

" It is very lucky. Sire, that we have more honesty 
than your Majesty." 

" That is well said," observed the Empress ; "you 
have only got what you deserve." 

The Emperor was much amused. He was very 
fond of children, and would often have the little sons 
of his brother Louis and Queen Hortense to breakfast 
with him and Marie-Louise. He liked to tease them. 
One day when the two little Princes were at breakfast, 
Louis,* aged three years and a half, was eating a boiled 
egg. Napoleon made him turn his head to look at a 
toy, and took away the egg. When the child missed 
it he took up his knife, and said to the Emperor ; 
" Give me back my egg, or I will kill you." 

• Afterwards Napoleon III. — Translator's note. 



28 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISK. 

" What, you rascal, would you kill your uncle ? ** 

" I must have my egg, or I will kill you." 

The Emperor gave it back to him, saying, " You 
will be a fine fellow." 

Princess Elisa's daughter, a very proud child, of 
five, could not endure the Jokes which the Emperor 
occasionally made at her expense, and said, after one 
of them, to her governess, who was present, " Let us 
return to Florence ; I am not understood here." 

Several instances of kindness and beneficence on 
the part of Napoleon are too well known for me to 
repeat them here ; the following, I believe, has never 
been quoted. While hunting in the forest of Com- 
piegne, he had dismounted, and was walking, ac- 
companied only by the Duke of Vicenza, when he met 
two wood cutters who, being fatigued with their toil, 
were resting for a moment on the trunk of a tree. 
They had served with the French troops in the 
Egyptian expedition. One of the men recognized 
the Emperor and rose at once. M. de Caulaincourt 
wished to make the other stand up also. 

" No, no," said Napoleon ; " don't you see they are 
tired ? '' 

He made the man who had risen sit down again, 
seated himself on the same tree trunk, talked to 
them about the expedition to Egypt, and their own 
affairs, and having learned that one of them had not 
obtained a retiring pension, he granted him one, and 
gave them ten Napoleons each on leaving them. 



( ii» > 



CHAPTER IV. 

NAPOLEON ORGANIZES THE HOUSEHOLD OP MARIE-LOUISE — WOMEN's 
RIVALRIES —BIENNAIS THE JEWELLER — M. PUER. 

The Emperor was not jealous, and yet he had sur- 
rounded his young wife with endless restrictions 
which resembled the precautions of jealousy. They 
had, however, their origin in less ungenerous ideas. 
He knew well the loose morals of his Court, and he 
wanted to organize a mode of life for the Empress 
which should render her inaccessible to the very 
lightest suspicion. The Lady-in- Waiting, the Lady 
of the Bedchamber, and the Lady Ushers, or Dames 
d'Annonces, exclusively possessed the right of enter- 
ing her presence at all times. The Emperor, in organ- 
izing the household of the Empress, had very lofty 
views, as he had in everything else, but he was hindered 
in the carrying out of them by the petty passions of 
those around him. 

In the time of the Empress Josephine, there were 
three Lady Ushers whose sole business was to keep the 
door of the private apartments. The Empress ad- 



30 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

iiiitted several persons to intimacy with her ; jealousies 
arose between the Ladies of the Palace and the Lady 
lashers, and gave rise to disputes which worried and 
vvearied Napoleon. This state of things induced the 
!']inperor, who knew the sedentary life led by the ladies 
who devoted themselves to the education of the 
daughters of the members of the Legion of Honour in 
the imperial house of Ecouen, to instruct the Queen of 
Naples to write to Madame Campan, the superin- 
tendent, requesting her to select four to be attached 
to the household of the Empress. He desired that the 
preference should be given to the daughters and 
widows of generals, and announced that for the future 
those places were to belong to the pupils of the imperial 
house at Ecouen, and would be the reward of their 
good conduct. He kept his word ; some months after, 
having raised the number of ladies to six, two of 
the pupils, Mesdemoiselles Materol and Rabusson, 
daughters and sisters of superior officers, were named. 
These six ladies, who at first bore the title of " Dames 
d'Annonces," because they had to announce the 
persons who presented themselves, but who were 
afterwards called " Premieres Dames de I'lmperatrice," 
because they were in reality charged with the whole 
of the personal service, had under their orders six 
waiting-women, but the latter did not come into 
the presence of the Empress except when they were 
summoned by a bell, while the former, four of whom 
were in waiting always, passed the entire day with 



ORIENTAL PRECAUTIONS. 31 

her. They entered the Empress's room before she 
rose, and they never left her until she was in bed. 
Then all the doors by which access to her room was 
gained were shut, except one which led into an adjoin- 
ing room ; in this the ladies who had the principal 
" service " slept. The Emperor himself could enter his 
wife's room at night, only by passing through this one. 
No man, with the exception of the physicians or 
" Officers of Health," as they were called, and Messieurs 
de Maineval and Ballouhai — the former her " secretary 
of commands," the second her "steward of expendi- 
ture," was admitted into the private apartments of 
the Empress without an order from the Emperor. Even 
ladies, the Lady-in- Waiting, and the Lady of the 
Bedchamber only excepted, were not received until 
they had obtained an audience order from Marie-Louise. 
The Ladies of the Household were charged with the 
enforcement of these regulations, and responsible for 
their fulfilment. One of them was present at the 
lessons which the Empress received in music, drawing, 
and embroidery. They wrote to her dictation or by 
her order, and fulfilled the duties of readers. This 
was indisputably a wearisome life ; but they had been 
accustomed to retirement at Ecouen ; the kindness 
of their imperial mistress mitigated its irksomeness, 
and they served her for love rather than from mere 
duty. 

Their constant presence in the private rooms where 
the Emperor frequently came because the Empress 



32 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

passed a portion of her days there, excited the jealousy 
and envy of several Ladies of the Palace. As it was 
impossible to attack their conduct, which was per- 
fectly correct, an attempt was made to humiliate them. 
It was at the solicitation of these ladies that Napoleon 
changed the title of " Dames d'Annonces " to that of 
" Premieres femmes de chambre," a title which had no 
connection with the duties of the objects of theii 
jealousy. The ladies of Ecouen had nothing to do 
with the toilet of the Empress. One day, the Emperor, 
being at breakfast with the Empress, said to Madame 

D y who was in attendance : " You ought to be 

glad, for I have given orders that captains of my guard 
are to be chosen as husbands for these young persons 
of yours." 

" Sire, the captains of your guard will not marry 
waiting women " {femmes de chambre). 

" And why not ? They will be presented after 
their marriage ; besides, was not Madame la Baronne 
de Misery fem^me de chambre to Marie- Antoinette ? " 

" Since then, Sire, a revolution in ideas has taken 
place ; that which used to be held in honour is so held 
no longer. When your Majesty asked for ladies from 
Ecouen to form part of the Empress's household, we 
had a right to believe that in quitting an honourable 
and respected position, we were not about to fall 
lower. But, Sire, ought I, the widow of a general,* 

* General Durand commanded Fort Vauban in 1793 ; he was 
bombarded and obliged to surrender to the Austriuns, after a most 



A SPIRITED PROTEST. 33 

and having a son, to make him blush for the position of 
his mother ? If your Majesty persists in the intention 
of giving us this title, notwithstanding my profound 
grief at leaving the Empress, I shall beg of you to 
send me back to Ecouen." 

The Emperor laughed at my vehemence, and talked 
of something else. When he was gone, Marie-Louise, 
who was always kindness itself to me, asked me how 
I had dared to assert myself against the Emperor, 
and said she had been afraid that he might send me 
back to Ecouen." 

" Madame," I replied, " the Emperor is jnst, and 
he must have understood my susceptibility on the 
point." 

A few days afterwards we were all six named 
" Lectrices " (Readers). 

When the Court travelled, one of the First Ladies 
always slept in a room adjoining that of the Empress, 
and through which it was necessary to pass in order 
to reach her Majesty's. 

I will cite two examples of the rigid observance of 
his rules exacted by the Emperor. 

Biennais, the goldsmith, had had a coifer made for 
the Empress for the purpose of holding papers, with 
several secret contrivances in it ; these were to be 
known to her alone, and it was indispensable that he 

honourable defence. He was taken to Hungary. Being exchanged 
after the death of Kobespierre, he retired into domestic life, and would 
not serve again. He died in 1807. 



34 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

should show and explain them to her. Marie- Louise 
spoke of the matter to her husband, who gave her 
permission to receive Biennais, and the latter was 
summoned to Saint-Cloud. He arrived, and was 
shown into the music-room, where he remained at one 

end with her Majesty, Madame D being in the 

same room, but sufficiently far off not to hear the 
explanation. Just as it was concluded, the Emperor 
came in, and, seeing Biennais, he asked : " Who is that 
man ? " The Empress hastened to name him, and to 
explain why he had come, and that the Emperor him- 
self had given permission for him to be admitted to 
her presence. Napoleon distinctly denied the latter 
assertion, declared that the lady on duty was in the 
wrong, and addressed a severe reprimand to her which 
the Empress had a great deal of trouble to check, 
although she said to him : 

"But, mon ami, it is I who gave orders that 
Biennais should be sent for." 

The Emperor laughed, and said it was no affair of 
hers ; that the lady on duty was responsible for those 
who entered there ; that she only was to blame, and 
he hoped the thing would not happen again. 

The following is the second example. Marie- 
Louise's music-master, M. Paer, had been her mothers' 
teacher also. One day, while he was giving her a 

lesson, the lady on duty — again it was Madame D 

— ^had an order to transmit ; so she opened a door, and 
standing, with half her body outside of it, gave the 



FALSE STORIES. 35 

order. At this moment Napoleon entered the room, 
and not seeing her at once, thought she was not there. 
After the music-master was gone,Napoleon asked 
where she had been when he came in. She told him 
that she had been in the room, but he would not 
believe her, and preached her a long sermon, in 
which he said he would not endure that any man, no 
matter of what rank, could boast of having been two 
seconds alone with the Empress. He added with 
vivacity : 

"Madame, I honour and I respect the Empress; 
but the sovereign of a great Empire must be placed 
out of the reach of a suspicion." 

After these two examples, it is easy to judge how 
much credit ought to be given to the anecdote which 
was so widely spread about, that Leroy, the Empress's 
tailor, had been excluded from the palace for having 
said to the Empress, while he was trying a dress 
on her, that she had beautiful shoulders. I know 
M. Leroy well enough to be quite sure that if he 
had been admitted to the Empress's private room 
he would not have said anything of the kind, for he 
has too much tact, and is too well versed in Court 
manners to commit such an impropriety ; but, as a 
matter of fact, he never had the opportunity. 
Although the dresses ordered for Marie-Louise were 
made at his establishment, on a model which had been 
given to him, neither he nor anybody in his employ- 
ment ever tried them on the Empress ; it was her maids 



36 NAPOLEON AND MAJllE-LOUISE. 

who showed him the alterations which he was to 
make. The same rule was observed with resrard to 
the other milliners and dressmakers, male and female, 
the corset-maker, shoemaker, glover, etc. No purveyor 
of any kind of wares whatever either saw or spoke 
to the Empress in private. 



i 37 



CHAPTER V. 

MADAMB DB LUCAT — GENERAL LANNES — A SATING OF JOSBPHINeV 
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF MONTEBBLLO — C0RVI8ART — PREFEi 
MERE D£ QUI. 

Madame de Montebello, Lady-in- Waiting, and 
Madame de Lugay, Lady of the Bedchamber, passed 
an hour or two every morning with the Empress. One 
might be tempted to believe that a fatality attaches 
to those two posts, for at no time in the history of the 
Court of France have the ladies who occupied them 
been able to live together in peace. The Memoirs of 
Mesdames de Motteville and Campan prove the trutli 
of this observation ; here is a fresh example. 

Madame de Montebello and Madame de LuQay 
never liked each other from the time they were 
attached to the service of the Empress, and it appears 
that the former had done very ill turns to the latter. 

An estrangement ensued, which was the more 
remarkable because it originated with Madame de 
Montebello, and the more surprising because Madame 
de Lu9ay is amiable, well bred, perfect in her conduct 



38 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

and demeanour, incapable of harming even an enemy 
(if she could have one), with no courage to defend her- 
self, and only able to summon any when it is a case of 
defending the absent ; and she possesses all the habits 
and manners of Court life, having lived at Court several 
years. Her husband had been one of the first to 
attach himself to the fortunes of Napoleon ; he was 
then owner "of the Chateau de Valen9ay, and was 
appointed Prefect of Indre ; he afterwards became 
Prefect of the Palace, and Madame de Lu9ay was made 
Lady of the Palace to Josephine. The Emperor, who 
had every reason to be pleased with her, placed her in 
the service of his young wife as Lady of the Bed- 
chamber. 

Madame de Montebello belonged to the bourgeois 
class. Her mother, who was an estimable woman, had 
presided over her education ; but, not having lived in 
high society, she could not impart to her daughter 
either the ideas or the sentiments which she would 
have needed, to enable her adequately to fill so 
important a post. 

She appeared at Court as the wife of General 
Lannes ; she had a virginal face and an air of great 
sweetness ; she pleased everybody, although in reality 
there was a great deal of coldness and hardness in hei 
nature. She was not often at Court at first, be- 
cause her husband required her to follow him in his 
expeditions. General Lannes, who was born in the 
plebeian class, had merited and won the friendship 



THE DUCHESS DE MONTEBELLO. 39 

and favour of Napoleon by deeds of distinguished 
valour, and when a new nobility was created the title 
of duke was conferred upon him. But Lannes was not 
content with this, and said openly that he deserved 
the title of prince better than any of those who had 
obtained it. His frankness was extreme, and he was 
almost the only man who never disguised his real 
thoughts from the Emperor. He supremely detested 
the old nobility, especially the emigres, and he had 
done all in his power to dissuade Napoleon from 
recalling them to France, and above all from attaching 
them to his person. He had, indeed, had some sharp 
quarrels on this point with the Empress Josephine, who 
was on their side. He did not attempt to conceal this 
aversion: the emigres, who were informed of it, 
heartily reciprocated his sentiments. 

One day there happened to be several of the re- 
called nobles in one of the salons of the Tuileries 
through which Lannes had to pass, on his way to the 
Emperor's cabinet, and they affected to place themselves 
before him so as to bar his way. The General instantly 
drew his sword, and swore he would crop the ears of 
anybody who should hinder him from passing. He 
found no obstacle ; every one there hastened to get out 
of his way, for he was a man of his word. 

On another occasion, when he had been vainly 
urging Napoleon anew on the subject of the emigres, 
and entreating him to refuse to admit any one of them 
near him, he at last lost control of himself, and, usin_ 



40 Napoleon and marie- louise. 

the old familiar tutoiement as he had been accustomed 
to use it a few years before, he said : 

"Thou wilt never do anything except out of thine 
own head ! but thou wilt repent of this. They are 
traitors ; thou shalt load them with benefits, and if 
they get the opportunity they will assassinate thee." 

This outbreak was punished by the General's tem- 
porary exile, and as he imputed that also to the 
emigres, it did not diminish his enmity against 
them. But it was Murat for whom he most openly 
paraded his contempt. Murat, who belonged to the 
lower order of the people, was destined, like Masaniello, 
to exercise the supreme authority at Naples, and also, 
like him, to end his days in a no less tragic manner, 
:vith, however, this difference, that he retained to the 
last the strength of mind and courage which had been 
characteristic of him all his life. 

He was renowned in the army for his personal 
courage, although his companions in arms did not 
consider that he possessed the chief qualities which 
constitute a great general. 

Josephine said of Murat (whom she liked no better 
than she liked his wife), " He smells of powder half 
a league off, and would put his Creator to the 
sword." Murat's marriage with the Emperor's sister 
was one of the principal causes of his elevation. Even 
at that period the First Consul would not have allowed 
his brother-in-law to continue to be merely one among 
the generals of the Republic. He alwa^'s placed him 



JOACHIM MUllAT. 41 

at the head of his advanced guard, and Murat's dash 
ing gallantry had a success that was never equivocal, 

Murat loved show and expense, and more than once 
he had recourse to the generosity of his brother-in-law, 
who paid his debts for him; not, however, without 
reprimanding him severely for his prodigality, and 
the luxury in which he indulged even in the field. 
When he was made prince, he visited the Department 
of the Lot, where he was born, and his family still 
resided. He assembled all its members, rich and poor, 
at a great dinner, and inquired into the circumstances 
of each. Some of his relations were very poor, but the 
new prince was not ashamed of any of them. Every 
one belonging to him was enabled to live comfortably 
by his beneficent aid. 

But, to return to Marshal Lannes. It is not sur- 
prising that he inspired his wife with feelings similar 
to his own, and she afterwards gave more than one 
proof of them. Her private circle was composed of 
her family, and the only stranger whom she received 
was Dr. Corvisart, first physician to the Emperor at 
Guichenene. Her father was an intimate friend of the 
doctor, to whom he was bound by a community of 
tastes and habits, and this society was not what might 
have been desired for a young woman destined to a 
high position near the throne. 

At the period of which I write the Duchess was 
just thirty years old ; in full dress she was one of the 
best-looking women belonging to the Court. Her 



4.2 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

expression was calm and gentle ; she had a cold 
manner which she could render gracious when she 
chose. As she loved only her children and her kins- 
folk, she had always enjoyed a spotless reputation, and 
to this she owed the place of Lady-in- Waiting (or 
Dame d'honneur), which the Emperor said he had 
p-iven her because she was truly ** a lady of honour." 
If, however, her behaviour made her suitable for the 
post, her disposition did not. Madame de Montebello, 
loving her home and her ease, detesting every kind of 
restraint, naturally indolent and inactive, disliking the 
duties which took her so completely out of her own 
ways, never took any pleasure in her position. She 
dreaded having to make requests, to solicit any- 
thing, and yet she was obliged to do so for many 
persons, whose number increased as she grew in favour, 
^and she made enemies of those whom she forgot or 
neglected. She had not the art of refusing gracefully ; 
her negative answers were abru[)t and harsh, and 
whether she was obtaining a favour or employed to 
announce a granted grace, it was done in the same 
way, as a matter in which she took no personal intei-est 
whatsoever. 

This conduct alienated a number of persons 
whom she might have attached to her by one 
gracious word. She was reproached with being lofty 
and exacting with her equals, proud and disdainful 
with her inferiors. She thought it beneath her to 
conceal her opinion of those who were the subject of 



CALUMNY AT COURT. 43 

remark, and she expressed it openly and without 
reserve. This frankness, so novel at Court, won the 
confidence of the Empress, but it also made enemies 
for her who sought their revenge in spreading a most 
unfounded calumny concerning her. It was reported 
that she was with child by Napoleon. Now, Madame 
Lannes never even liked the Emperor; I believe, 
indeed, that she had a positive dislike to him. 

It is asserted that the reason of her dislike was to 
be found in her ambition. She had deeply resented 
her husband's not having been made prince, regarding 
this as an injustice ; perhaps she was right. The death 
of the Marshal increased her bitterness against Napo- 
leon, but her anger reached its culminating point when 
she had a request made to the Emperor, through the 
Empress, that the Senatorship of Douay, vacant by the 
death of Jacqueminot, might be given to her father, 
and it was refused in the most ungracious way. The 
story against her was trumped up in the hope of dis- 
crediting her with the Empress, but its falsehood was 
so evident that only those who would swallow any- 
thing, gave credence to it. The Duchess was apprised 
that such a rumour was in circulation, and did not 
allow a day to pass without presenting herself at the 
Tuileries. It is untrue that she was ever absent ; the 
duties of her post were fulfilled at that period with 
unfailing exactness. 

This occurrence ought to have induced her to take 
some pains to conciliate certain ladies of the Palace 



44 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

who detested her, constantly complained of her, and 
said that she could never be half an hour in the salon 
de service without saying something unjDieasant to 
them. She was not much better liked at home ; and 
this was a remarkable fact, for she was endowed with 
qualities calculated to please and to win regard. 

It is said that, although she was very rich, Corvi- 
sart, who was her friend, had persuaded Marie-Louise 
that Madame Lannes had only 6000 francs a year, out 
of the immense fortune of her husband, and that she, 
on her side, rendered a similar service to the doctor by 
representing to the Empress that he was in embarrassed 
circumstances. The result of this concerted manoeuvre 
was that the Duchess and the doctor received handsome 
donations and presents. 

When, in 1813, Napoleon granted a pension of 
50,000 francs to Madame de Montesquiou as a recom- 
pense for the care she had bestowed upon his son, 
Madame de Montebello was so angry and jealous that 
she gave the Empress no rest until she had obtained a 
like favour for her from the Emperor, although she had 
done nothing to merit it, and ought to have been 
ashamed to solicit any such thing. 

After a few months the Emperor resumed his 
former habits, worked more steadily, and was less 
assiduous in his attentions to his young wife. 

Marie-Louise felt that she needed a friend, and the 
Duchess de Montebello listened with sympathy to the 
outpourings of her royal mistress's heart, bemoaned 



MADAME MilRE. 45 

her, pitied her, consoled her, and insinuated herself so 
cleverly into her confidence and good graces that the 
Empress could not do without her. She loved the 
Duchess like a sister, and sought to prove this to her 
by the kindest attentions both to herself and her 
children. She was happy to find a present which 
could please the Duchess, and to offer it to her in a 
frank and graceful manner which was very charming ; 
she liked those whom her friend liked, and disliked all 
who were displeasing to her. The ascendency of the 
Duchess was observed, and she was speedily accused 
by persons who considered that they had a right to 
complain. 

Of the number were the Emperor's sisters, and 
Madame Mere spoke very sharply on the subject to the 
Empress, complaining of Madame de Montebello. The 
latter, being informed of this, and finding herself 
obliged to make a visit to Madame, said in the presence 
of three of the femmes de chaTnhre, and a fi.rst lady, 
that she despised what Madame said, and that she 
wished she could write upon her card that her visit 
was for the mother of the Emperor, and not for 
" Madame Mere." 

Those words " Madame Mere " remind me of an 
amusing anecdote which I shall relate here, although 
it be somewhat out of place, lest I should not find 
another opportunity ; for it deserves to be preserved. 

A certain prefect of a department (one of the most 
distant from the capital), having been summoned to 



46 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Paris, received an invitation to dine with Cambac^res 
the day after his arrival. The palace of the minister 
adjoined that of the Emperor's mother, and the prefect, 
mistaking the door, entered the abode of Madame, 
instead of that of the Arch- Chancellor. It happened 
that it was one of her grand reception days, and the 
prefect, having given his name, was ushered into a 
salon where a large number of persons were assembled. 
He looked about everywhere for Cambaceres, and not 
seeing him, took his place in the circle without ad- 
dressing a word to anybody. 

" Excuse me for taking a liberty," said a neighbour 
on one side of him, " but it seems to me that you have 
not made your bow to Madame." 

" Madame whom ? " said the stranger, who knew 
that Cambaceres was not married. 

" Madame Mere, answered his neighbour. 
" But mother of whom ? " (Mere de qui ?) 
" Mother of his. Majesty the Emperor." 
" Am I not in Cambaceres' house ? " 
" You are in the Emperor s mother's house.** 
The poor prefect, overwhelmed v/ith confusion, took 
his departure in all haste, and had not even sufficient 
presence of mind to offer an apology. Ever since he 
is known by the nickname of " M. le Prefect Mere 
de qui" 



( *7 ) 



CHAPTER VI. 

A SATING OF THE EMPIEROR's — DUBOIS — MEN OP LETTERS — THB 
COUNTESS DE MONTESQUIOU. 

An occasion on which the Duchess de Montebello 
appeared in a very favourable light was the birth 
of the son of Napoleon. It is well known that the 
Empress suffered very severely in her confinement, and 
for nine whole days Madame de Montebello remained 
in her room, hardly ever leaving it for a moment. She 
passed the nights upon a sofa; in short, she did 
everything that could have been expected from either 
her sense of duty or her feelings of affection. 

In writing of the Empress's confinement, it is fitting 
that I should give some details relating to the birth of 
the child concernino: whom the most absurd rumours 
were then rife. According to some of these the 
Empress had never been pregnant, and her delivery 
was a comedy played for the purpose of enabling 
Napoleon to adopt one of his natural children. 
According to others, Marie-Louise had been delivered 
of a still-bom daughter, for whom another child had 



48 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUlrfE. 

been substituted. These reports, as ridiculous as they 
were improbable, were without the very slightest 
foundation, and the short narrative which follows may 
be confidently accepted as certain and authentic. 

It was seven o'clock in the evenins: when the 
Empress felt the first pains of childbirth. M. Dubois, 
the surgeon-accoucheur, was summoned, and he re- 
mained with her thenceforth. The pains went on 
during the whole night. With the Empress were 
Madame de Montebello, Madame de Lugaj, Madame 
de Montesquiou (who had been appointed governess to 
the child about to be born), two first ladies, Mesdames 
Durand and Ballant, and Madame Blaise, the nurse. 
The Emperor, his mother, his sisters, and MM. 
Corvisart and Bourdier, were in an adjoining room. 
They frequently entered the room to learn how the 
Empress was, but observed the most profound silence. 
The pains, which had not been strong during the night, 
subsided altogether at five o'clock in the morning. 
M. Dubois, seeing no symptom that indicated a speedy 
deliverance, informed the Emperor, and he, having sent 
everybody to bed, went to his bathroom. There 
remained in the Empress's room only M. Dubois and 
the ladies whom I have named. The other women 
attached to her service were resting in the adjoining 
dressing-room. 

The Empress, worn out with fatigue, slept for about 
an hour; she was then awakened by violent pains, 
which went on increasing in severity without, how- 



napoleon's anxiety. 49 

ever, producing the natural crisis, and M. Dubois was 
only too sadly certain that the accouchement would be 
difficult and protracted. He went to the Emperor, who 
was then in the bath, and begged him to come to the 
Empress, to encourage her by his presence to bear her 
sufferinofs with couraoje. M. Dubois did not conceal 
from him that he feared it would be impossible to save 
both mother and child. " Think only of the mother ! " 
cried Napoleon, '*and do all you can for her." He 
would hardly let himself be dried ; and went to the 
Empress's room, having given orders that all those 
who ought to be present should be apprised. He em- 
braced his wife tenderly, and exhorted her to courage 
and patience. M. Bourdier, physician, and M. Yvan, 
surgeon, arrived at this moment, and they held Marie- 
Louise. The child was born feet foremost ; M. Dubois 
was obliged to resort to instruments in order to free 
the head. The delivery lasted for twenty-six minutes, 
and was very painful. The Emperor could not remain 
present tor more than five minutes. He relinquished 
the hand of the Empress, which he had been holding 
between his own, and withdrew to the dressing-room. 
He was as pale as death, and seemed to be beside him- 
self. Almost every minute he sent one of the women 
to bring him news of his wife. At length the child 
came into the world, and so soon as the Emperor was 
told, he flew to his wife and folded her in his 
arms. 

The infant remained for seven minutes without 



50 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

any sign of life. Napoleon cast his eyes upon it for 
an instant, thought it was dead, did not utter a single 
vvX)rd, but occupied himself solely with the Empress. 
A few drops of brandy were put into the child's 
mouth, its whole body was slapped with the flat of 
the hand, and it was wrapped in hot cloths. At 
length it uttered a cry, and the Emperor turned to 
embrace the son, whose birth was the crowning point 
of his happiness, and the last gift of that fortune 
which was so soon to forsake him. 

This scene took place in the presence of twenty- 
two persons, whom it will be well to name, in order 
to establish the authenticity of the details which I 
have just given. The witnesses were the Emperor, 
Cambaceres, who, as Arch-chancellor of the Empire, 
had to attest the sex and the birth of the infant ; the 
Prince de Neufchatel, who, although he had no official 
business there, attended the Emperor, from zeal and 
attachment; MM. Dubois, Corvisart, Bourdier, and 
Yvan ; Mesdames de Montebello, de Lu9ay, and de 
Montesquieu : the six first ladies, Mesdames Ballant, 
Deschamps, Durand, Hureau, Rabusson, and Gerard ; 
five waiting- women, Mesdemoiselles Honore, Edouard, 
Barbier, Aubert, and Geoftroy ; Madame Blaise (the 
nurse), and two wardrobe-maids. This sufficiently 
demonstrates the absurdity of the fable of a suppo- 
sititious child. The thing could not have been done 
in the presence of so many witnesses, and it should 
also be borne in mind that adjoining the bedroom on 



THE BIRTH OF THE CHILD. 51 

one side was the dressing-room, crowded with all the 
subordinate persons employed in the service of Marie- 
Louise, and on the other were several »aions occupied 
by a number of persons belonging to the Court, who 
were all impatiently awaiting news of the important 
event that was impending. 

All the inhabitants of Paris knew that the Empress 
had been seized with the pains of labour, and from 
six o'clock in the morning the garden of the Tuileries 
was filled with an immense crowd of people of all 
ages and conditions. It had been made known that 
twenty-one guns would announce the birth of a 
princess ; but that one hundred and one would be fired 
to celebrate that of an heir to the throne. No sooner 
was the first gun fired than profound silence fell upon 
the multitude, just before so restless and noisy. This 
silence was broken only by those who counted the 
reports of the guns, saying, in a low voice, one, two, 
three, etc. But, at the twenty-second, the enthusiasm 
of all broke out simultaneously, cries of joy, hats 
tossed in the air, and shouts from the garden of the 
Tuileries contributed as much as did the roar of the 
guns to carry the great news to the other quarters 
of Paris. Napoleon, hidden behind the curtain of a 
window of the Empress's room, enjoyed the spectacle 
of the general gladness, and was deeply affected by it. 
Tears rolled down his cheeks without his feeling therr. 
flow, and it was in this state that he came to cjmbrace 
his son anew. 



52 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Without giving a complete list of the poems, 
epistles, odes, strophes, couplets, etc., etc., written in 
all the living languages (English excepted) which 
were composed on the occasion of the birth of the 
King of Rome, I will only say that the number of 
compositions of this kind sent to the Emperor and 
Empress amounted to over two thousand in less than 
a week. The Emperor accepted them all (without 
reading them, it is true), and with them the requests 
for favours of all kinds which the authors had, with 
wise foresight, added to their effusions. How, indeed, 
could Napoleon, who was naturally generous, refuse 
tokens of his goodwill to those who expatiated upon 
the bounty of Providence towards himself? It was 
impossible, and any other individual in his place would 
have done as much. I have it on good authority that 
a sum of one hundred thousand francs, charged upon 
his privy purse, was divided by M. Dequevanvilliers, 
Accountant- Secretary of the Chamber, among the 
authors of the effusions sent to the Tuileries. 

A curious fact, to whose authenticity I can pledge 
myself, is, that when Napoleon, having returned from 
the island of Elba, left Paris to take the command of 
the army assembled on the frontiers of Flanders, one of 
these poets of the moment, assisted by two others, com- 
posed a dramatic piece destined for the Theatre des 
Varieties, which could be made, by a few trifling altera- 
tions, to do equally well for the celebration of the 
triumph of Napoleon, or the return of Louis XVIII. 



NURSERY REGULATIONS. 63 

Immediately after its birth the imperial infant 
was confided to a nurse of healthy and robust con- 
stitution, taken from the class of " the people." She 
could not go out of the palace, or be visited by any 
man ; the most stringent precautions were taken in that 
respect. For health's sake she was regularly taken 
out in a carriage, but she was always accompanied by 
several women. 

I have already said that the Countess de Monte- 
squiou, whose husband was Grand Chamberlain, had 
been appointed governess to the young Napoleon. It 
would have been diiiicult to make a better choice. 
This lady, who came of an illustrious family, had 
received an excellent education ; to the " ton " of the 
great Avorld she united piety too sincere and en- 
lightened ever to degenerate into bigotry. Her con- 
duct had always been such as calumny itself dared 
not attack. She was accused of some haughtiness, 
but this was tempered by politeness, and a gracious 
obligingness. She took the most tender and assiduous 
care of the young Prince, and nothing could be more 
noble and generous than the self-devotion which after- 
wards led her to leave her country, her friends, and 
her family, to ally herself with the fate of a child, all 
whose hopes had just been laid low. And yet the 
only reward she reaped was bitter grief and unjust 
persecution. 



54 NAPOLli:0^ AHU MAKIE-LOUISK. 



CHAPTER Vn 

THE THREE ARM-CHAIES — THE EMPRESS'S MEDICINE — THE THREE PARTIES 
— JOURNIY TO FONTAINEBLEAU — BULL OF EXCuSJMUNICATION SENT 
BY THE POPE — THE ABHE d'aSTROS — THE DUKE OF ROVIGO — THE 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE LIBRARY — COUNT BIGOT DB PREAMENEU, 
MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP — VISIT TO THE POPE. 

For six weeks after the birth of her child, Marie- 
Louise received only the Lady-in- Waiting, the Lady of 
the Bedchamber, and the Princesses of the Imperial 
family. When Madame Mere or one of the sisters of 
Napoleon came to see her, arm-chairs were placed for 
them near her bed. On the day appointed for Marie- 
Louise to receive, for the first time, all the persons 
presented at Court, the Emperor remarked that three 
arm-chairs, for Madame Mere and the Queens of Spain 
and Holland respectively, had been placed near the 
state couch prepared for the Empress. He found fault 
with this arrangement; said that his mother, not being 
a queen, ought not to have an arm-chair, and therefore 
no one should have it. He ordered the arm-chairs to be 
removed, and three very elegant tabourets put in their 
places. Madame Mere arrived presently, with the two 



A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE. 55 

queens, and when they found that they were not to 
have arm-chairs they withdrew at once with an 
offended air, and would not remain to take part in 
the reception of the ladies who were expected. This 
incident increased the coolness which already existed 
in the private relations of the family, and a number of 
small annoyances resulted from it, the brunt of which 
the Empress had to bear, although she was entirely 
blameless in the matter of their origin. 

One day when Marie-Louise was to take medicine, 
she insisted on its being given to her before her doctor 
arrived. After she had swallowed the dose she had a 
sharp attack of cholic, and this gave rise to some 
uneasiness. The Emperor was informed, and came 
hurriedly to her room. She was over the attack, 
but he lectured the Duchess de Montebello at great 
length on the imprudence she had committed in allow- 
ing the Empress to take a medicine without being 
prepared for its effect, and repeated several times, 
" Etiquette requires that it shall be the doctor who 
presents the medicine." The Duchess made no answer, 
but when the Emperor was gone she said, "I am glad 
M. r Etiquette has done ; I never liked long sermons." 

At this period Napoleon visited the coasts of 
France. The Empress had as yet hardly recovered 
from her confinement, and the Emperor wished her to 
remain in Paris, but she urged him so strongly to 
allow her to accompany him that he could not refuse. 
She became considerably thinner during this journey, 



56 NAPOLEOJSI JlND MAKlii- LOUISE. 

no doubt in consequence of the fatigue which she en- 
dured ; and she never recovered her former plumpness. 

The French Court was then divided into three 
parties, the old nobility, the new nobility, and the 
military. Madame de Montesquiou and her husband 
were at the head of the first. All the influence they 
had was used to obtain favours, pensions, and places 
for the nobles, whether emigres or not; they repre- 
sented to the Emperor that by such means they would 
be more securely attached to his person, and brought 
to regard his government with affection. They said 
these things because they genuinely and sincerely 
thought them ; and because, believing the destiny of 
France to be for ever fixed, they desired to attach to the 
sovereign those persons who ought in their opinion to 
be the strongest supporters of the Empire. Napoleon 
fully recognized their zeal and devotion ; he was a 
witness of the indefatigable care bestowed upon his 
son by Madame de Montesquiou, and he seldom 
refused her anything which she asked. 

After what I have said of Madame de Montebello, 
it wiU at once be surmised that she was the soul of 
the second party. It was not numerous at Court, being 
composed in great measure of second-rate schemers, 
but it was sustained by the consideration in which 
Marie-Louise held her favourite. 

The third party was headed by General Duroc, and 
was composed, to speak generally, of all who were 
connected with military matters. This party saw no 



THREE PARTISa 67 

honour or glory outside the profession of arms, and 
had a sovereign contempt for every other. While 
the first and second parties carried on open warfare, 
endeavouring to injure and destroy each other by 
every possible means, the third played the part of 
observer, unmasked their schemes, and profited by 
their faults and blunders. The Emperor secretly 
favoured this third party ; but none the less did he 
pursue his usual system of neutralizing all opinions by 
endeavouring to balance their forces. Each party 
served as a spy upon the two others, and by this 
means he was informed of all that it was his interest 
to know. 

The Duchess de Montebello and the Countess de 
Montesquiou being at the head of two parties which 
were not only different but antagonistic, it may readily 
be supposed that no very intimate relations subsisted 
between them. The Countess, always prudent and re- 
served, did not proclaim her dislike to the Duchess, 
and did not seek to do her any ill. She was satisfied 
with never speaking of her, and conducting the inevi- 
table intercourse imposed by their respective posts 
with extreme coldness. But this was not the case 
with Madame de Montebello. She went as seldom as 
possible to see the little Prince, in order that she might 
not be obliged to see his governess at the same time. 
She endeavoured to persuade the Empress that the 
care which Madame de Montesquiou took of her son, 
the affection for him that she displayed, had no motive 



68 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

except ambition and self-interest, an accusation amply 
disproved by later events. Madame de Montesquiou, 
being informed of these continual efforts to injure her, 
complained of them once or twice to the Empress, and 
endeavoured to open her eyes with respect to her 
favourite; but the first impression had been made, 
and we all know the strength of a first impression, 
especially when it is received in youth, and produced 
by a person to whom all one's confidence is given. 

Marie-Louise did not then do Madame de Monte- 
squiou the justice that was due to her, as she had 
occasion to recognize in later days. 

At this period the Emperor went to Fontainebleau 
for ten days. He did not like the prolongation of 
his differences with the Pope. The long-continued 
quarrel between the Holy Father and Napoleon dated 
from 1805. When Pius VII. left France after the 
coronation, it was with secret annoyance at not 
having obtained the rewards that he considered due 
to him. Hardly had he set his foot on Italian soil 
before intrigues were organized, and pamphlets 
written, profiting by his discontent to overrule his 
mind and direct his intentions. Rome became the 
hotbed of all the political intrigues and plots against 
the tranquility of France. 

His Holiness had refused to recognize the validity 
of the Emperor's divorce from Josephine, and conse- 
quently that of his marriage with Marie-Louise. An 
open rupture had taken place between them in con- 



THE POPE. 69 

sequence, and Pius VII., listening to nothing but the 
indiscreet zeal of some of his advisers, had launched 
the thunderbolts of the Vatican against Napoleon. 
The sentence of excommunication had been sent from 
Rome to Paris, to the Abb6 d' Astros, Vicar Capitular 
of the Archbishopric (the See was vacant), who had 
it printed, and affixed it to the door of Notre Dame, 
ia the presence of some of the Canons on whose dis- 
cretion he could rely. Copies of the Papal Brief were 
very soon spread all over Paris, and thence throughout 
the provinces. It was asserted that the Director- 
General of Printing and Publication had been informed 
of this, but had taken no measures to check the pro- 
ceeding, nor had he even informed the Emperor. 

The Duke of Rovigo, Minister of Police, was one of 
the first to be informed of what had occurred, and 
as he had been for a long time on terms of rivalry 
with the Director, he took advantage of this oppor- 
tunity to present a circumstantial report to Napoleon, 
in which that functionary was not flattered. 

On perusing this document the Emperor fell into 
a transport of rage difficult to describe. He was 
expected that day at the Council of State, and he 
came in violently agitated. Every one present 
remarked the change in his face, but no one said a 
word, no one moved. Napoleon walked hurriedly 
about the Council Chamber, uttering incoherent and 
half-formed sentences : the only word that could be 
heard distinctly was "bigot," an epithet which he 
probably applied to the Abbe d* Astros. 



60 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Bigot de Preameneu, a Councillor of State, was 
present at the sitting. The word "bigot" had 
caught his ear several times, and he thought the 
Emperor was calling him. 

" Sire," said he, rising. 

** What do you want ? " said Napoleon. 

" Sire, I thought your Majesty spoke to me." 

" Not at all — ^yes, though, yes — a moment. Bigot, 
I appoint you Minister of Public Worship " (Gultes). 
After such a fashion was this new ministry instituted. 

The Director-General of Printing and Publication, 
who was also a Councillor of State, arrived at this 
moment, and was about to take his usual place. 

"Stay," said the Emperor, "and answer me. Do 
you know what took place last Sunday at Notre 
Dame? Don't stammer; no Jesuitical equivocation." 

« Sire, I knew that " 

" Ah, you knew it ! and you did not inform me of 
it. I was publicly reviled, and you kept silence! 
They dare to publish a Bull of Excommunication 
against me in the middle of my capital, and you let 
it pass like that ! " 

"Sire, I thought that in proceeding publicly 
against a man who believed he was doing his duty, 
I should only secure the interest that always attaches 
to a martyr for him. I thought oblivion was a duty 
which " 

" Your duty ! Your duty ! The first of all, sir, 
was to consult me. I am grieved in all this for the 



THE BULL OF EXCOMMUNICATION. 61 

memory of your father — I don't suspect you of evil 
intentions — but — There, there, go and sit down." 

And the matter rested there for the moment. 

A few days afterwards, however, the Abb^ d'Astros 
was obliged, according to custom, to wait upon the 
Emperor at the head of the Chapter of Notre Dame, in 
order to offer him the compliments of the new year. 
At the sight of him all that had passed at the Council 
of State recurred to Napoleon's mind, and revived his 
wrath ; he strode towards the Abbe with a threaten- 
ing gesture, and exclaimed — 

" Hah ! It is you, then, who want to light the fire 
of sedition in my realm ! It is you who betray your 
sovereign to execute the orders of a foreign priest ! I 
wiU have neither revolt, nor fanaticism, nor a martyr. 
I am a Christian, and more Christian than you all. I 
shall know how to maintain the right of my- crown 
against those who resemble you. God has armed me 
with the sword — let not you and your like forget 
that." 

The Abb^ d'Astros attempted to reply, but an 
imperative gesture of the Emperor obliged him to 
desist and retire. The matter rested there. Never- 
theless, it has been maintained by many people, and 
even recorded in writing, that the Abbe d'Astros fell 
a victim to his apostolic zeal, having been disgraced, 
thrown into prison, and persecuted. This again, is 
one of the malicious falsehoods which have been so 
widely disseminated. 



62 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

It is a fact which will be more and more clearly 

demonstrated as time goes on, that Napoleon loved 
his religion, that he desired to make it prosper and to 
honour it, but at the same time to make use of it as a 
social means of repressing anarchy, consolidating his 
domination over Europe, and increasing the import- 
ance of France and the influence of the inhabitants of 
Paris; objects on which his thoughts were constantly 
intent. 

During this period the Pope had been carried away 
from his States, taken to Savona, and brought from 
thence to Fontainebleau, where he occupied the apart- 
ment which had been assigned to him on the former 
occasion.* A household was formed for him, and his 
table was magnificently served ; but he did not avail 
himself of this. He lived in the most retired rooms, 
and in the simplest and most frugal manner. His 
suite only sat down to the splendid repasts. Napoleon 
had been forming for a long time a secret design of 
renewing relations with Pius YII., and in order to 
carry it out more easily, he gave orders for a hunting- 
party at Gros-Bois, where he breakfasted. Then, 
quite unexpectedly, he directed the road to Fontaine- 
bleau to be taken. The confusion which this unfore- 
seen journey occasioned was very amusing. Nobody 
had a man or a maid, a night cap or any dressing 

* See Memoirs of Madame de Kemusat for details of the Pope's 
visit to France, the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, and the 
celebration of the religious marriage between them. — Translator's note. 



THE POPE AT FUNTAINEBLEAU. 63 

things ; it was bitterly cold, water froze close up to 
the fire. Everybody passed a very bad night, but in 
the morning our baggage and servants arrived from 
Paris. 

We remained nine days at Fontainebleau. The 
Emperor paid a visit to the Pope, and his Holiness 
came to see the Emperor. There were several con- 
ferences, and a reconciliation seemed probable. At the 
moment of our departure the Pope was ill, and kept 
his bed. We went to beg that he would bless some 
rings and rosaries for us ; they were taken to him in 
his bed, and he was so good as to grant our request. 



64 NAPOLEON AND MAlilE-LOUISB. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NAP0LK0N*8 GALLANTRIES— MADAME WALEWSKA— THE CHATEAU DE 
COMPIEGNE— GRAZINI AND BODE— FOUCHE, MINISTER OF QBNBBAL 
POLICE. 

I HAVE already said that the Emperor had organized 
his private police. He did not make any political 
use of this branch of the service; it furnished him 
with a source of amusement. He liked to be acquainted 
with all the current scandals concerning the persons 
of his Court, and he took a special pleasure in teasing 
husbands about the adventures of their wives. 

At this point I must refer to Napoleon's gallantries. 
A great many false statements on the subject have 
been circulated and printed, and he has been charged 
with intriguing with women of whom he never even 
thought. It is well known that he never had a mai- 
tresse en titre ; it must not, however, be concluded from 
this that he had not passing inclinations and fancies 
which it was easy for him, in his position, to gratify. 
But he was- as careful to conceal his own gallantries 
as he was ready to talk of those of other people, and 



MADAME WALEWSKA. 65 

above all, he was totally free from the folly of boasting 
of favours which have not been obtained. 

In his youth he had been much attached to Madame 
Walewska, a Polish lady (he made her acquaintance 
during the campaign of 1806-7), and she was one of the 
two women who retained his friendship and regard 
after the cessation of all other relations with them. 
Madame Walewska never ceased to give him proofs 
of sincere affection. On the occasion of his abdication, 
she went to Fontainebleau to take leave of him, and 
when she learned that Marie-Louise had not accom- 
panied him to the Island of Elba, she went thither, 
taking her son, whose father Napoleon was, with 
the intention of remaining merely as a friend whose 
society might be agreeable to him. To this, however, 
Napoleon would not consent. He would not inflict 
upon his wife the mortification of knowing that a 
woman whom he had formerly loved, although before 
his marriage with her, was with him. Madame 
Walewska stayed at Elba for three days only. 

There was a great deal of scandal, formerly, about 
the Emperor's adventures with two Coiebrated actresses, 
and in the first edition of this work I referred to the 
subject. I have, however, suppressed the mention of 
those ladies in the present edition, in consequence of 
the strictures of several newspapers. No doubt 
Napoleon was a very unfaithful husband to Josephine. 
It is a fact that in the Chateau de Compi^gne a secret 
suite of rooms was constructed, opening from the 



66 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

corridor on which the ladies' "lodging," as it was 
called, was situated; and access to these rooms, which 
did not appear to form a portion of the particular 
allotment, was provided by a single small door, look- 
ing like that of a mere passage, which might be 
completely overlooked. This suite, composed of several 
charming rooms, faced the park, and commanded an 
extensive and delightful view ; it was furnished with 
taste; luxury and elegance were combined in its 
decorations. Lastly, although it was at a !o ig dis- 
tance from the Emperor's own apartment, a secret 
staircase connected the two. I visited the rooms myself 
after Napoleon's second marriage. They were no 
longer used, and therefore no longer so carefully con- 
cealed. No doubt he did avail himself of them, but not 
to the extent that has been alleged. The gallantries 
of the Emperor have been grossly exaggerated; by 
some, in order to make him ridiculous ; by others, for 
the purpose of representing him as an immoral man ; 
while there are actually persons so corrupt as to think 
it redounds to his glory and renown to depict him as a 
great conqueror of women, most of whom were ready 
to meet him half, and many three-fourths, of the way. 

The following anecdote, which I have on good 
authority, although the fact that gave rise to it 
occurred in Josephine's time, illustrates what I have 
just said. As it is known to a few persons only, I 
think it well to introduce it in this chapter. 

Napoleon, having been struck by the showy beauty 



GRAZINI. 67 

of Grazini, the singer, when he had passed through 
Naples, made overtures to her, and sent her valuable 
presents. He employed Berthier to conclude a treaty 
with her on a very liberal basis, and to bring her to 
Paris; in fact, she made the journey in Berthier's 
own carriage. She was allowed twenty thousand 
francs a month ; and she made a splendid figure 
at the theatres, and at concerts at the Tuileries. 
But then, as I have already said, the Chief of the 
State avoided all scandal, and did not wish to give 
umbrage to Josephine, who was excessively jealous, so 
that he paid only brief and furtive visits to the fair 
singer. La Grazini (as she was called at the chateau) 
was a proud and passionate woman, in whose imagin- 
ation, as well as in her voice, there was something 
masculine, and she could not brook such desultory and 
careless attention; she therefore resorted to the in- 
fallible antidote, and fell violently in love with the 
celebrated violin-player. Rode, who reciprocated her 
feelings. The lovers were too ardent to be careful, 
and even braved the vigilance of Berthier himself 

One day the Emperor sent for Fouche, then Minister 
of General Police, and told him he was astonished, that 
with all his well-known skill, he (Fouche) did not 
do his business better, and that things were going on 
which he knew nothing about. 

" Yes," replied the vexed minister, " things do go 
on which I did know nothing about, but I know all 
about them now ! For instance, a short man, wearing 



68 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

a blue cloak and a three-cornered hat, comes out of 
the chateau every second day, between eight and nine 
o'clock in the evening, by the side gate of the Marsan 
pavilion, over the kitchens, and gets into a hackney- 
coach, with a man taller than himself, but dressed in 
the same way,* and drives straight to Grazini's, 28, 
Rue Chantereine. The little man is yourself, and 
the sly cantatrice deceives you in favour of Rode, the 
fiddler, who lives at the Hotel de I'Empire, Rue du 
Mont Blanc." 

At this. Napoleon turned his back on his minister, 
and began to walk up and down with his hands 
behind his back, whistling an Italian air. Fouche 
withdrew without another word. 

Napoleon was but rarely unfaithful to Marie-Louise, 
and he took the greatest care to prevent the very few 
infidelities in which he indulged from coming to her 
knowledge ; for he always treated her with the utmost 
consideration. He did, however, occasionally lament 
that she would not make herself agreeable to the 
ladies of the Court, and exert herself a little more 
to please. He had been accustomed to the unfailino- 
grace, and the unvarying amiability of Josephine, and 
he certainly could not fail to remark a difference 
between his first wife and his second ; but he forgot 
that the latter, born in the purple, accustomed from 
her infancy to homage and respect, and of a naturally 
shy and reserved disposition, knew nothing whatever 
* Duroo, Grand MarthaJ. 



MARIE-LOUISES WANT OF TACT. 69 

of the mind of the French nation, and had no one 
about her who was in a position to advise, guide, and 
make her understand how essential it was, not only 
for her own, but for her son's sake, that she should 
win their regard. But, although the Empress had the 
defect of being cold and impassive in public, the 
blame ought not to be laid to her account. She was 
constantly told that one ought to be natural, and to 
appear just as one is; an excellent principle in private 
life, no doubt, but it does not work in the case of 
sovereigns, or indeed in that of the great, who require 
to do many kindnesses, and to be very condescending, 
in order to make the lower classes like them. 



70 NAPOLEOM AUD AlARIE-LOUlSfi. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MARIE-LOUISE AND JOSEPHINE COMPARED — GENEROSITY OF THE 
TWO EMPKE8SES — INFANCY OP NAPOLEON's SON — A PETITION 
ADDRESSED TO THE KINO OP ROME — THE BRINGING-UP OF THE 
YOUNG PRINCE. 

To gain the hearts of the French, one need only 
know how to smile and bow at the ris^ht time. It 
pleases them to consider their sovereign as the head, 
or father of that large family, and a little affability 
amply repays them for the respect and affection with 
which they regard him. Marie-Louise possessed all 
those qualities and virtues which could endear her 
to those who knew her intimately ; but she lacked 
that air of familiarity which may be perfectly well 
combined with dignity, and is sufficient in France 
to captivate the crowd. One evening, when she had 
been at the Theatre Fran9ais, Madame D ven- 
tured to tell her that the audience had been greatly 
disappointed, because, by remaining at the back of 
her box, she had deprived them of the privilege 
of seeing her. 



MARIE-LOUISE IS ILL-ADVISED. 7l 

" What matter ? " said Madame de Montebello. 
" Why should her Majesty trouble herself? " 

Madame D answered that a great number of 

people had gone to the theatre solely in the hope 
of seeing the Empress, that they had been very much 
annoyed at finding their expectation frustrated, and 
that her Majesty ought to regard their anxiety to see 
her as arising from a sentiment of affection always 
to be prized by a sovereign. 

" When one is a frank and sincere person," said 
Madame de Montebello, " one should appear just 
what one is, and do nothing out of human respect." 

With such advice as this always at hand, it is not 
surprising that the young Empress allowed her face 
and demeanour to betray to the public the weari- 
ness and distaste with which the duties imposed 
upon her by etiquette inspired her. Back again in 
her private life she was kindly, gentle, merry, affable, 
and beloved by all who were in habitual relations 
with her. 

The first Empress had the advantage of possessing 
a thorough knowledge of the French character, anc" 
she availed herself of this to the fullest extent. N 
one had ever had so much influence over the min 
of Napoleon, and even after her divorce she sti 
retained a portion of it ; so that Marie-Louise ha 
conceived a sort of jealousy of her, and did not like 
any one to speak of Josephine in her presence. 
Josephine was renowned everywhere for her bene- 



72 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

ficence. Marie-Louise, too, was very charitable, but 
she allowed herself to be misled in the distribution 
of her gifts. In Josephine's time, Madame de Roche- 
foucauld, her Lady-in- Waiting, took charge of the 
distribution of the Empress's alms. She had em- 
ployed two honest and respectable men to seek out 
the deserving poor who would not beg (pauvres 
honteux), and to collect trustworthy information re- 
specting those who solicited her aid. A little money 
expended in this way restored a great number of 
families to life and happiness, and their gratitude 
spread the name of Josephine, with blessings upon it, 
throughout France. Marie-Louise took ten thousand 
francs a month from the sum allotted to her dress, for 
the poor ; this was double what Josephine had given, 
but, unfortunately, Madame de Montebello regarded 
it as beneath her to occupy herself personally with 
the distribution of the money. She left it entirely 
to her secretary, who had formerly been valet-de- 
chambre to the Count d'Artois, and also secretary 
to Madame de Rochefoucauld. This person, however, 
had been nothing under the rule of Josephine's Lady- 
in- Waiting ; he became all-powerful under that of 
Madame de Montebello. 

He made a list on which the names of several 
poor persons were inscribed; it was then submitted 
to a kind of scrutiny ; that is to say, M. Ballouhai, 
her Majesty's ''secretary of expenditure," had in- 
quiries made by a " sure " person into the statements 



IHE EMPRESSES ALMS. 73 

put forward by the applicants for relief, and returned 
the list with notes to Madame de Montebello, who 
handed it back to her secretary. The latter struck 
out some of the names, inserted those of his favourites, 
and took the revised list to the Duchess, who pro- 
cured the Empress's signature to it. Thus altered, 
it reached the hands of M. Ballouhai, who found 
himself constrained to hand out the money while 
lamenting over an abuse which he was powerless to 
remedy. The names of immoral women figured in 
the list ; these were, however, mere pretences, and by 
this means a portion of the Empress's alms remained 
in the hands of M. Deluguy. Loud and frequent 
complaints were raised against him, and also against 
Madame de Montebello, but the echo of them never 
reached the Empress. The Duchess had personal 
knowledge of these malversations on several occa- 
sions, but her entire indifference to anything that 
did not affect herself personally, blinded her to the 
dishonesty of a man who was regarded with con- 
tempt by the public, and whom she ought over and 
over again to have dismissed with ignominy. 

One day, Marie-Louise, having visited the Jardin 
des Plantes, desired Madame de Montebello to have 
a present of 500 francs sent to the gardener, and the 
Duchess's secretary received orders accordingly. A 
few days afterwards, when the Duchess was walking 
in the Jardin des Plantes with some other ladies, 
the gardener approached the party and thanked 



74 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE. 

her for the 200 francs which she had sent him from 
her Majesty. The secretary had thought proper to 
appropriate the surplus. This theft was forgotten 
like others, and thus it was that the poor were de- 
prived of the succour which the Empress intended 
them to receive, and herself of the blessings which 
ought to have been its guerdon. 

The almsgiving of Marie-Louise was not limited to 
the fixed sum of 10,000 francs which she set aside 
each month for the poor. No one ever spoke to 
her of an unfortunate person, without arousing the 
generous impulses, which sprang from her heart 
at its first movement. Her second thoughts were 
quite another matter ; it was easy to discern a hidden 
influence in their cold distrust and reluctance. From 
other examples which I could give, I will select only 
certain incidents that occurred under my own eyes. 
One evening, just as the Empress had risen from 
table and retired to the salon, a footman naiiicd 
L^Esperance, a very respectable man, came in great 
agitation to announce to a " first lady " that a family, 
consisting of father, mother, and six children, living 
on the seventh floor of a house in the Rue de L'Echelle, 
had been entirely destitute of food for two days, 
that, hearing of their condition, he had gone to investi- 
gate it for himself, and was much grieved at having 
no money wherewith to help in such an extremity. 
The lady gave him twenty francs, and he took the 
money at once to the starving family. When the 



napoleon's generosity. 75 

Empress returned the lady depicted to her the position 
of these unfortunate people, and asked her for some 
help for them. The Empress desired that 400 francs 
should be taken to them on the spot, and when it was 
represented to her that it was now near midnight, and 
sufficient money had been sent to provide for their 
wants until the morrow, she insisted, saying — 

" No, no ; some one must go to them. I am happy 
to think that I shall make them pass a good night." 

Some one did go, and that poor family was after- 
wards one of the objects of the Empress's bounty. 

The following incident does Marie-Louise as much 
honour as it does the Emperor himself 

The Countess de T , a lady of the palace, one 

day asked for audience of Napoleon, and her request 
was granted without delay. She related to the 
Emperor that her husband was in embarrassed 
circumstances ; that he was involved in law suits 
which required heavy advances ; that she counted on 
his Majesty's kindness, and addressing herself, not to 
the sovereign, but to the man, she said all sorts of 
touching and tender things to him, without over- 
stepping the bounds of that charming modestj'' which 
so well becomes women, and of which the lady in 
question was well known to make profession. Napo- 
leon thanked her for having placed confidence in him, 
assured her of his friendship, and on the spot signed 
an order in her favour on his privy purse for 100,000 
francs, payable at sight. 



76 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

The Countess de T , authorized hy her husband, 

drew up a promissory note for the sum advanced in 
due form, and a year elapsed without its being possible 
to think of repaying it. At the end of that period 
the Countess gave birth to a son, and the Empress 
acted as godmother, selecting Prince Aldobrandini, 
her first equerry, as her fellow sponsor. Every one 
will have guessed what the christening present was. 
At the bottom of a magnificent casket {corheille) lay 
the promissory note for 100,000 francs, receipted. 
But this was not all ; the casket contained, besides, 
diamonds to the value of 12,000 francs, a superb 
Kashmir shawl, and some lace of the rarest beauty. 
It was like a fairy-tale ! Let me hasten to add that 

the T family had rendered service to the State, 

and that those marks of favour, so gracefully conferred 
could not have been better bestowed, or have inspired 
more lively gratitude. A benefit, to be worthy of 
praise, must be bestowed on worthy, honourable persons. 

The coldness of Marie-Louise's manner to all 
except her intimate friends was so well known that 
she was accused of extending it even to her son. 
This arose, however, not from want of afiection, but 
from an excess of solicitude. She had never been 
with, or even seen, children, and she was afraid to 
take the little boy in her arms or caress him, lest she 
should do him some harm. Thus it came to pass that 
the young Napoleon became more attached to his 
governess than to his mother, and of this Marie-Louise 



THE BABY KING OF KOME. 77 

promptly grew jealous. The Emperor, on the contrary, 
took him in his arms every time he saw him, caressed, 
and teased him, took him to a looking-glass and made 
all sorts of faces at him. At breakfast, he would keep 
the child in his lap, and, having dipped a finger in the 
sauce, make him suck it, or smear his face with it. 
The governess scolded, the Emperor laughed, and the 
child, who was almost always good-humoured, seemed 
to take pleasure in the rough play of his father. It 
may be observed that those who came at such times 
to the Emperor to solicit favours, were pretty sure 
to be graciously received, and to have their requests 
granted. The following anecdote supplies a case in 
point. 

M. V , a man of real talent, who was at once 

highly-informed and very poor, bethought him that 
he could fill a small salaried place quite as well as 
the dolts, great and small, who were so well paid 
under the Empire, and who had nothing on their side 
except good luck and their own importunity. He 
therefore asked for an appointment; but, having no 
patron, three or four petitions which he presented 
never reached the hands of the Emperor. 

Worn out, impatient, and daily growing poorer, he 
devised a stratagem which would have been worthy 
of a courtier of Louis XIV. Necessity frequently 
inspires happy thoughts ; he drew up with great care 
a little placet which he addressed to " His Majesty, 
the King of Rome." He only asked for a place worth 



78 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE, 

one hundred louis ; this was a very modest request. 

Full of the hope of success, he went to M. T> , a 

superior officer who was aide-de-camp to the Emperor, 
stated his distressful case, showed him the placet^ and 
added : 

" General, you will again do a generous deed and 
entitle yourself to my everlasting gratitude, if you 
will procure me the means of presenting this request 
to the Emperor." 

M. D , whose kindness was equal to his valour, 

led the petitioner into the presence of Napoleon. His 
Majesty took the paper, and remarked the superscrip- 
tion with evident pleasure as well as surprise. 

" Sire," said the applicant, " that is a petition for 
His Majesty the King of Rome." 

"Very well, then," replied the Emperor, "let it be 
taken to its address." 

The King' of Rome was then six months old. A 
Chamberlain was ordered to conduct the petitioner 

into the presence of his baby Majesty. M. V , 

seeing that fortune smiled upon him, was equal to the 
occasion ; he presented himself before the cradle of 
the King, and, after he had made a profound and re - 
spectful reverence, he unfolded the paper, and read its 
contents in a loud and distinct voice. The infant 

King, having uttered some inarticulate sounds, M. V 

and the Chamberlain again saluted his Majesty and 
returned to the Emperor, who asked, with the greatest 
seriousness, what answer they had obtained. 



THE BABY KING OF ROME. 79 

"Sire," said the Chamberlain, "his Majesty, the 
King of Rome, made no reply." 

" Very well," said Napoleon ; " silence gives con- 
sent." 

Shortly afterwards M. Y was appointed to 

a post in a departmental administration with a salary 
of 6000 francs. 

Before he was two years old the young Prince was 
regularly present at the Emperor's breakfast, and his 
mother also. Previous to her confinement, Marie- 
Louise had always breakfasted with the Emperor at 
a more or less fixed hour ; but at that period Napo- 
leon had resumed his former habit of eating when he 
was hungry, or when his occupations permitted, and 
he had insisted upon the Empress's continuing to 
breakfast at her usual hour. 

No sooner could the little Napoleon speak, than 
he became, like almost all children, yqyj inquisitive. 
The windows of his rooms looked out upon the garden 
and the courtyard of the Tuileries, and crowds of 
people assembled every day to see him. He took 
constant pleasure in watching them ; and having 
remarked that a great many persons came into the 
palace with rolls of paper under their arms, he asked 
his governess the meaning of this. She told him that 
the bearers of the rolls were unfortunate persons who 
came to implore his papa's favour. From that time 
forth whenever he saw a petition being carried past 
he cried, sobbed, and could not be quieted, until it had 



80 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

been brought to him ; and every morning at breakfast 
he presented to his father all those he had collected 
the day before. As may be easily supposed, when this 
became known to the public, the child was not allowed 
to want petitions. 

One day he saw under his window a woman in 
mourning, holding by the hand a little boy of three 
or four vears old, also in mourning. The latter had 
charge of a petition, which he held up from a distance 
for the little Prince to see. The child wanted to know 
" why that poor little boy was dressed all in black ? " 
The governess answered that no doubt it was because 
the little boy's papa was dead. He then urgently 
begged to be allowed to speak to the child. Madame 
de Montesquiou, who seized upon every opportunity 
of developing his feelings for others, consented, and 
directed that the little boy and his mother were to be 
admitted. The mother was a widow, whose husband 
had been killed in the last campaign, and she, being 
destitute, had come to solicit a pension. The King of 
Rome took the petition, and promised to give it to 
his papa. On the following day he made up his parcel 
as usual, but he kept the petition in which he took a 
particular interest separate from the rest, and, having 
handed over the others in a bundle, according to 
custom, he said to the Emperor : 

" Papa, here is a petition from a very poor little 
boy. You are the cause of his father's death, and now 
he has nothing. Give him a pension, I beg of you." 



THE BABY KING OF ROME. 81 

Napoleon took his son in his arms, kissed him 
tenderly, granted the pension, which he made retro- 
spective, and had the patent made out that very day. 
Thus, to a child of three years old was granted the 
great privilege of drying the tears of a family. 

It is an absolute falsehood that the young Prince 
was ever chastised with a rod. Madame de Montes- 
quiou employed a much more wise and efficacious 
method of correcting his faults. He was generally 
docile, quiet, and amenable to reason, but occasionally 
he would give way to fits of passion. One day when 
he was rolling about on the floor, screaming, and would 
not listen to his governess, she closed the windows 
and the shutters. The child got up immediately, in 
great astonishment, and asked her what she did that 
for? 

"For fear you should be heard," she answered. 
"Do you think the French would have a Prince like 
you, if they knew you got into such passions ? " 

" Do you think any one heard me ? " he asked. 
" I should be very sorry. Forgive me, Maman 
Quiou " (this was his name for her) ; " I will not do it 
any more." • 

Thus did a prudent and intelligent woman inspire 
the young Prince with the fear of blame, the respect 
for public opinion, so necessary in every rank, and 
endeavour to make the most of the good gifts and 
graces with which he was endowed by nature. 



8S NAPOLEON AND MAilIE-LOUiS&. 



CHAPTER X. 

MISrNDERSTANDTNO WITH RUSSIA — CX)UNT DB OZERNITSCHOPF — ▲ TRIP 
TO HOLLAND— THE BUST OF THE EMFEROR ALEXANDER — SMUG- 
GLING BY THE LADIES OP THE CX)URT — M. DE BEAUHARNAIS — PLATS, 
CONCERTS, AND MASKED BALLS — DEPARTURE FOR DRESDEN. 

For some time past a misunderstanding had existed 
between France and Russia. France reproached 
Russia with the violation of the continental system ; 
Russia claimed an indemnity for certain worthless 
duchies that had been taken from the Empire, and 
advanced some other pretensions. Russian forces 
were massed, and approaching Warsaw, while a French 
army was being formed at the same time in the north 
of Germany ; nevertheless, the idea of a war was as 
yet far from being entertained. 

These Cabinet mysteries, the unusual tone of some 
of the confidential notes of 1811, the indication afibrded 
by great preparations secretly ordered, intrigues from 
the outside, and hidden manoeuvres, aroused the sus- 
picions of Russia. Already the Czar had seen that it 
^as time for him to find out the plans of Napoleon, 



COMPLICATIONS. 83 

and, as he needed some other guarantee than that of 
Kourakin, his ambassador, who was successfully 
cajoled at Saint-Cloud, and an upholder of the conti- 
nental system, he despatched Count Czernitschoff to 
Paris, in the month of January, with a diplomatic 
mission. 

Count Czernitschoff, who was colonel of one of the 
regiments of the Russian Imperial Guard, had attracted 
attention at Napoleon's Court in the first instance 
by his politeness, and his chivalrous language and 
manners. He appeared at all the receptions and at 
every fete, and achieved so striking a success in high 
society, that he was very soon the fashion with 
the ladies who were rivals for supremacy in grace 
and beauty. Each of them aspired to the homage of 
the brilliant and agreeable envoy of Alexander. At 
first, he seemed to hesitate, but after a while this 
Paris from the banks of the Neva accorded the -apple 

to the wife of General R , who had recently 

returned from the army in Spain. 

The Minister of Police suspected that his stay in 
Paris might have secret motives, and might conceal 
a mystery which it would be well to penetrate ; 
accordingly he had the Count closely watched, and 
learned that frequent interviews took place between 
him and an under-secretary of the Ministry of War. 
The Duke of Rovigo communicated his suspicions to 
the Duke de Feltre, but was reassured by the latter, 
who said he knew the intimacy was founded wholly 



84 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUltSE. 

and solely upon their common taste for music, and 
need not give rise to any uneasiness. The vigilance 
of the police had not, however, been abated, when 
one day the Minister learned that the Colonel had 
left Paris quite suddenly on the preceding evening. 
He gave directions that the apartment which he 
had occupied should be carefully searched, and on 
this being done papers torn in very small pieces 
were found. These were brought to the Duke of 
Rovigo, who ordered his most skilful agents to put 
them together, and endeavour to decipher their 
contents. The thing was impossible, but the fact was 
ascertained that the torn papers had come out of one 
of the offices of the Ministry of War, which was indi- 
cated ; it was the very office to which the suspected 
official belonged. The Duke of Rovigo went to the 
office at once, and in two hours' time he had ascer- 
tained that all the plans of campaign in Russia, tht 
state of the forces, and the returns of our wai 
material and means had been handed over to the 
Russian Colonel, who had departed for his own 
country, armed with these documents. Orders for 
his arrest were sent to the frontiers by telegraph, but 
when they reached Mayence, Czernitschoff had already 
passed through that city, and was out of reach. Many 
people believed that the Duke de Feltre was aware 
of the Colonel's real mission, and had favoured it 
secretly. 

From the moment that Napoleon knew of Czemit- 



STRAINED KELATIONS. 85 

schoff 's departure, he considered war declared. For a 
long time past he had never allowed himself to be 
forestalled ; he could march against Russia at the 
head of Europe, and his own destiny, as well as that 
of the new European system, would be decided by 
that conflict. Russia was the last resource of 
England ; the peace of the globe was in Russia ; the 
only thing to do was to go thither and secure it. 
Success ouo^ht not to be doubtful. Besides, he had 
always dreamed of achieving the independence of 
Poland ; the opportunity had now arisen ; he did not 
propose any gain to himself, he reserved for his own 
share only the glory o£ well doing, and the blessings 
of the future. 

In the summer of that year the Emperor and 
Empress set out for Holland. Napoleon preceded 
Marie-Louise by two days, because he wished to visit 
the coasts of Belgium. They rejoined each other 
shortly afterwards, before making their entry into 
Amsterdam. 

It was during this excursion that the first symptoms 
of the misunderstanding which had arisen between 
Napoleon and the Emperor of Russia began to be 
perceived. In the Empress's cabinet at Amsterdam 
a piano, constructed to look like a secretaire divided 
in two, with an empty space in the middle, had been 
placed. A small bust of the Emperor of Russia occu- 
pied this space. A few minutes after he arrived, the 
Emperor, who wanted to see what sort of accommo- 

7 



86 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

dation had been provided for the Empress, entered 
the room, and perceiving the bust, took it up and put 
it under his arm without saying a word. He went 
through all the rooms, still carrying the bust, although 
it was a good weight. When he had concluded his 
tour of inspection, he handed the bust to Madame 

D , saying that he desired it should be removed. 

This incident caused great surprise to all who 
witnessed it; for we were yet far from supposing that 
any misunderstanding between the two Emperors 
existed. 

Napoleon passed two months in visiting the ports 
and principal cities, and came back to Brussels, where 
his presence excited the greatest enthusiasm. By his 
desire the Empress purchased one hundred and fifty 
thousand francs' worth of lace, in order to revive the 
national industry. The introduction of English mer- 
chandise into France was then strictly forbidden ; all 
the prohibited wares that were seized were burned 
without mercy. The result was that every one was 
trying to procure some of them. Belgium was still 
full of English wares, carefully hidden, and all the 
ladies in the suite of the Empress made large pur- 
chases. Marie-Louise was not behindhand either. 
Several vehicles were laden with these prizes, not 
without fear lest the Emperor should be informed of 
the fact, and should have them all seized on arriving 
in France. The moment of departure came, the Rhine 
was passed, and Coblenz reached. Fifteen vehicles, 



CONTRABAND BY THE COURT. 87 

bearing the arms of the Emperor, and composing the 
first "service," or the advance guard, if I may use 
that expression, arrived simultaneously at the gate^ 
of the town. The officials were uncertain as to what 
they ought to do ; some wanted to stop and search 
the vehicles, others were averse to doing so, alleging 
that respect was due to everything belonging to the 
Emperor. The latter counsels prevailed ; the vehicles 
entered freely, and having passed the first line of 
the French customs they brought their cargo of pro- 
hibited merchandise to safe haven at Paris. It is quite 
certain that if they had been stopped and confiscated, 
Napoleon, far from taking it ill, would have laughed 
heartily, and would probably have rewarded the indi- 
vidual who had been courageous enough to do his duty. 

The Emperor had already definitely settled the 
plan of his Russian expedition. He knew that such* 
a campaign would fail to obtain universal approba- 
tion, and it may have been solely with a view to 
allaying the inevitable discontent that he now sought 
to attach all hearts to him by exerting those powers 
of pleasing with which he was richly endowed, but 
did not always care to use. 

He had never been known to be so affable, so 
amiable ; he made everybody welcome, and talked to 
each comer on his own subjects. At Amsterdam he 
was a banker, at Brussels a merchant, at Antwerp 
a contractor and outfitter ; he visited factories, in- 
spected shipbuilding yards, reviewed the troops, 



88 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

addressed speeches to the sailors, and attended the 
balls given for him in all the towns in which he made 
any stay. He was gracious and polite, he talked to 
everybod}^ and said nothing that was not pleasant. 

Marie-Louise employed her brief sojourn at Amster- 
dam usefully. Her first visit was to the famous 
village of Bruck, situated about a league and a half 
from the city, and which communicates with the 
Zuyder Zee by means of a little canal, whose banks 
are enamelled with flowers at all seasons. She after- 
wards visited Saardam, celebrated for its historical 
connection with the memory of Peter the Great. 
Luncheon was served for the Imperial party in 
the hut that had been occupied by the autocrat 
of all the Russias, when learning practical ship- 
building. 

It was while the Emperor and Empress were in 
Holland that Napoleon seemed to entertain a passing 
predilection for the Princess Aldobrandini, a young 
lady belonging to the Court, who had accompanied 
Marie-Louise. She was clever and amiable, and she 
talked remarkably well. One evening, when she had 
outshone her customary self, Napoleon said to the 
Empress and the Duchess of MontebeRo, that if they 
wished to become perfect they had only to try to copy 
the Princess. This was the first occasion on which he 
tried the temper of Marie-Louise. She expressed her 
annoyance only by silence, however, and showed no 
resentment towards the Princess. But the Duchess 



M. DE NABBONNE. 89 

made it plain that she was deeply aggrieved, and from 
that time forth never ceased to say the hardest things 
of the favoured lady. 

The electoral colleges had been assembled during 
the Emperor's absence, and a day or two after his 
return to Paris, Duroc, who had presided over that of 
the Department of the Meurthe, came to see Napoleon 
while he was at breakfast. 

" Well," said the Emperor, " what do they think at 
Nancy of M. ? " 

M. was one of the Emperor's chamberlains, 

and did not stand high in the favour of his master ; 
but he had been bom, and his property was situated, 
in the Department. 

" Sire," replied the Marshal, '* he is regarded with 
general esteem." 

" That is not possible, Marshal ; he is a fool." 

" I beg your pardon, Sire ; he is not a fool, but a 
man who is liked and esteemed because he deserves 
to be." 

The Emperor laughed, and changed the conversa- 
tion. He did not like to be contradicted, but he 
appreciated the courage of a man who, holding an 
opinion opposed to his own, ventured to maintain it 
boldly. 

M. de Narbonne had also presided over an electoral 
college in a district at a. distance from the capital, 

**What do they say of me in the Departments 
through which you have passed ? " asked the Emperor. 



90 NAPOLEON AND MAlilE-LOUlSE. 

" Sire," replied M. de Narbonne, " some say you are 
a god, others say you are a devil ; but all are agreed 
that you are more than a man." 

Napoleon, not being altogether pleased with M. de 
Beauharnais, Gentleman-in- Waiting to Marie-Louise 
had intended to appoint this same M. de Narbonne, 
who possessed ability and tact, in his place. The 
Duchess was afraid of M. de Narbonne, she preferred 
M. de Beauharnais, whom she had taken under her 
patronage, so she represented to the Empress that she 
ought to keep M. de Beauharnais with her, were it 
only for policy's sake, as, if his place were given to 
another person it would inevitably be reported every- 
where that she had dismissed him on account of his 
name, and his relationship to Josephine. Marie- 
Louise believed her, and pleaded so hard with the 
Emperor that he at last consented to allow M. de 
Beauharnais to retain his place. To compensate M. 
de Narbonne for his disappointment, the Emperor 
made him his aide-de-camp. 

Never was the Court of France more brilliant than 
during the winter that followed the visit to Holland. 
It was during fetes and entertainments of every kind 
that Napoleon planned the conquest of Russia. The 
spoilt child of fortune, intoxicated with adulation, 
never contemplating the possibility of a reverse, 
seemed to be celebrating his future victories in antici- 
pation, and to have called on all the Pleasures to aid 
the preparations for war. Not a day passed but there 



THE COURT AT THE PLAT. 91 

was a play, a concert, or a masked ball at Court. 
Nothing could exceed the brilliancy of these enter- 
tainments; the theatre especially was a dazzling 
spectacle. 

The Emperor and Empress occupied a box facing 
the stage ; on either side of them, and behind them, 
sat the Princesses and Princes of their family ; on the 
right was the Foreign Ambassador's box ; on the left 
that of the French Ministers ; all the rest of the first 
tier of boxes, or rather the great gallery which was 
substituted for it, was reserved for the Court ladies, 
who attended in fuU dress and glittering with 
diamonds. The pit was filled with men wearing 
orders and stars of every kind; the second tier of 
boxes was occupied by persons who had obtained 
cards of admission; about one hundred cards were 
distributed for each performance. Between the acts, 
servants in the Emperor's livery went among the 
whole audience, handing round ices and other refresh- 
ments in profusion. The masked baUs presented a 
no less imposing spectacle in the richness and the 
variety of costume. This sort of amusement was 
particularly favoured by Napoleon ; he never failed 
to get information beforehand respecting the disguises 
of the women whom he wanted to puzzle, and as he 
was acquainted with all the scandalous stories, secret 
intrigues, and general gossip of his Court, he took a 
spiteful pleasure in tormenting the ladies, disturbing 
the husbands, and alarming the lovers. 



92 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Before leaving Holland their Majesties visited 
Haarlem, the Hague, and Rotterdam ; and after having 
crossed the Rhine, they visited Cologne. This was at 
the end of October, and the Imperial couple arrived 
at Saint Cloud early in November, 1811. 

At that period, Madame Murat had induced the 
Emperor, by dint of importunity, to allow one of 
Lucien's daughters to be summoned to France. The 
young lady was residing with Madame Mere. Lucien 
had ha<:l two children by his first marriage, and five 
by the second, which Napoleon always refused to 
recognize. His refusal was founded upon the fact 
that his brother's second wife, the widow of a bank- 
rupt " Agent de Change," retained and enjoined a 
fortune which was dishonestly withheld from her first 
husband's creditors. 

Madame Murat's object in sending for Lucien's 
daughter was to make her Queen of Spain. This 
feat, indeed, appeared perfectly easy of accomplish- 
ment. The Princes were at yalen9ay, and Ferdi- 
nand, whose letters to the Emperor were all of the 
most flattering kind, begged as a favour that he would 
bestow the hand of one of his kinswomen upon him. 
The resistance of the Spaniards had made Napoleon 
come to the resolution of replacing Ferdinand on the 
throne, and giving him his niece in marriage. The 
Princess was a fine handsome girl ; I often saw her 
with the Empress. All of a sudden we learned that 
she had been sent back to her father. It was said 



LUClEiS's DAUGHTEK. 93 

that the cause of this peremptory step was a letter, 
written by the Princess to Lucien, in which the 
Emjperor and Empress were not too tenderly handled. 
The imprudent communication was intercepted and 
placed before the Emperor, who at once dismissed his 
niece from Court, 



D4l NAPOLEON AND MAiilE-LOUISBi 



CHAPTER XI. 

NAPOLEON AND HIS COURT AT DRESDEN. 

DEPARTUKE FROM SAINT CLOUD — ARRIVAL AT DRESDEN — THE EMPEROR 
AND EMPRESS OP AUSTRIA — NAPOLEON's ANCESTRAL NOBILITY — 
THE KING OF PRUSSIA AND HIS SON — PETES AND THEATRICAL 
ENTERTAINMENTS — MADAME TALMA — THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER — 
NAPOLEON SETS OUT FOR POLAND — THE JOURNEY OP MABIE-LOUISE 
TO PRAGUE — HER RETURN TO SAINT CLOUD. 

N'apoleon left Saint Cloud on the 9th of May, 1812. 
Marie-Louise and her husband occupied the same 
carriage. A portion of the Court and almost the whole 
of their Majesties' household accompanied them on 
this journey. Never did a departure to join an army 
so closely resemble a party of pleasure. We arrived 
at Mayence on the 11th of May ; the Emperor at once 
reviewed the troops and then proceeded to inspect all 
the neighbouring strongholds. On the 13th we 
stopped at Aschaffenburg, at the residences of the 
Prince Primate and the Grand Duke, the Empress's 
uncle, where the King of Wurtemberg and the Grand 
Duke of Baden already were. On the 16th their 
Majesties were met at Fribourg by the King and 



NAPOLEON AND HIS COURT AT DRESDEN. 95 

Queen of Saxony, who were impatient to welcome the 
illustrious travellers; and on the same day, at ten 
o'clock in the evening, Napoleon and Marie-Louise 
arrived at Dresden. 

The Emperor and Empress occupied the state apart- 
ments of the chateau, and were constantly surrounded 
by a number of their own household. Napoleon's 
levee took place as usual at eight o'clock. It was 
then and there that the world might have beheld 
with wonder the submissiveness of a multitude of kings 
and princes, mixing with a crowd of courtiers of all 
sorts, and awaiting the moment at which they might 
present themselves before him. On the day after his 
arrival the Emperor's levee was attended by the 
reigning Princes of Saxe- Weimar, Saxe-Coburg, and 
Nassau. The King of Westphalia and the Grand 
Duke of Wurtzberg arrived during the day, and 
immediately paid their respects to him. 

On the 18th, the Emperor and Empress of Austria 
made their state entry into Dresden. What a moment 
for Marie-Louise ! Once more to find herself in the 
arms of her father, and to reappear before the dazzled 
eyes of her family as the happiest of wives and the 
consort of the greatest of sovereigns ! Her august 
father could not conceal his emotion; he tenderly 
embraced his son-in-law, and recognizing the claim to 
his affection that Napoleon had acquired, he emphati- 
cally assured him that he might count upon him and 
upon Austria for the triumph of the common cause. 



96 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

At their first interview, the Emperor of Austria 
informed Napoleon that the Buonaparte family had 
formerly been sovereign at Treviso; of this fact he 
was sure, because he had caused the authentic titles to 
be procured and presented to him. He attached so 
much importance to the proof of Napoleon's nobility 
that he left the Emperor abruptly in order to commu- 
nicate the good news to Marie-Louise, who was also 
greatly delighted to hear it. 

On that day the King of Saxony gave a magnificent 
banquet to all these illustrious guests. The principal 
ministers, the confidants, and the private advisers of 
the sovereigns and the princes crowded in behind them ; 
among the number were Mettemich and Harden- 
berg. Their attitude in the presence of Napoleon was 
that of profound admiration for his genius ; their 
language, in conversation with the members of the 
imperial household, was that of devotion to his person.* 

The King of Prussia was not present at this great 
assembly. It had been arranged that if Napoleon 
should leave Dresden to join the army he was to pass 
through Berlin, where, indeed, preparation had already 
been made for him, and the King of Prussia remained 
in his capital to receive him. Nevertheless on the 26th 
the King arrived at Dresden, and hastened to visit 
Napoleon, to whom he said : — 

* A significant commentary upon this passage, and indeed upon 
the famous banquet at Dresden, and the protestations of the Emperor 
of Austria, is supplied by the Talleyrand Correspondence during the 
Congress of Vienna (Bentley). — Translator's note. 



NAPOLEON AND HIS COURT AT DRESDEN. 97 

"Sire, my brother, I repeat to you my assurance 
of inviolable attachment to the system which unites 
us." 

He offered Napoleon the services of his son, the 
Crown Prince of Prussia, in the capacity of aide-de- 
camp in the campaign upon which he was about to 
enter. His Prussian Majesty even presented the 
Prince to the aides-de-camp of the Emperor of the 
French, begging their friendship for this new brother 
in arms. But, no sooner had the first fervour of the 
occasion subsided than comparisons, jealousies, and 
animosities crept in and established themselves, so 
that when the Princes and Princesses parted, each to 
return home, they were on less friendly terms than they 
had intended to be, or at least than they had been 
before the great meeting. 

I shall not attempt to describe the grandeur of 
that Court, whither so many Courts had come from 
the farthest parts of Germany, and the luxury in 
which each rivalled the other, — fetes, concerts, balls, 
hunting-parties, assemblies, competing with each other 
for their respective share in the whirl of pleasure. 
Incessant movement and animation turned the Saxon 
capital into an abode of dazzling magnificence, whose 
centre was Napoleon. 

In order to give the inhabitants of Dresden an idea 
of the splendour which surrounded his throne, the 
Emperor of the French had brought with him all that 
could contribute to its adornment. The theatre harl 



98 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

not been neglected. Among his suite were the principal 
members of the Com^die Fran^aise. Of course, Talma 
had not been forgotten. He brought his wife with 
him, in the hope of effecting a reconciliation between 
her and the Emperor, who could not endure her (I do 
not know why), while he loaded her husband with 
tokens of his favour and generosity. Talma did not 
succeed. When the object of his unjust dislike ap- 
peared, he plainly showed his displeasure, and ordered 
his Prefect of the Palais to signify to Madame Talma 
that she was not again to show herself upon the 
French stage. 

Napoleon was very busy at Dresden, and Marie- 
Louise, ever anxious to take advantage of the few 
leisure moments which her husband could spare her, 
hardly went out at all lest she might miss any of 
them. The Emperor Francis, who did nothing, and 
was excessively bored, could not understand this 
domestic seclusion, and amused himself, as a last 
resource, in walking about the town all day and 
haunting the shops. The Empress of Austria tried 
to make Marie-Louise do the same, telling her that 
her assiduity was ridiculous. She would have followed 
the lead of her step-mother, if she had not been afraid 
of Napoleon. It was his wish that his wife should 
display the utmost magnificence on this occasion. All 
the Crown Jewels had been taken to Dresden ; Marie- 
Louise was literally covered with them; and the 
Empress of Austria, who had done her very utmost to 



NAPOLEON AND HIS COURT AT DRESDEN. 99 

make a splendid appearance, was mortified to find 
herself eclipsed by her step-daughter. She used to 
come in almost every morning while Marie-Louise was 
dressing, and ferret about everywhere ; rummaging 
the Empress's laces, ribbons, stuffs, shawls, trinkets, 
etc., etc., and she never went away empty-handed. 
She hated Napoleon; in vain did he employ all 
the resources of French gallantry to overcome her 
dislike. He never could triumph over the inveterate 
aversion which she frequently, but unconsciously, 
allowed to appear. 

The meeting at Dresden was the high-water 
mark of Napoleon's power. He had to show that he 
desired to have a little more made of the Emperor of 
Austria, his father-in-law, than was actually done. 
Neither the Emperor, nor the King of Prussia, had a 
house allotted to his suite. All ate at Napoleon's 
table, and it was he who settled the hours, the 
etiquette, and the ton. When he made the Emperor 
Francis or the King of Prussia go before him, these 
sovereigns were highly pleased. The luxury and mag- 
nificence of the Court of France caused Napoleon to be 
regarded as an Eastern King might have been. There, 
as at Tilsit, he distributed profuse gifts of money and 
diamonds. During his stay at Dresden he had not 
a single French soldier about his person; his only 
escort was formed of the Saxon body-guard. 

The Emperor Alexander had arrived at Witna at 
the end of April, accompanied by all his Staff, and 



100 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

from thence he had made his entry into the capital of 
Poland. Stress of circamstances, therefore, obliged 
Napoleon to send an ambassador to the Czar without 
delay. He selected, for this important mission, the 
Archbishop of Malines (Mechlin), who started at once, 
accompanied by M. de Narbonne, then aide-de-camp 
to the Emperor. He saw Alexander, and found him 
firm in the resolution which he had formed, if the 
indemnities which he had previously demanded 
through Kourakin, his ambassador, were not granted. 
In consequence. Napoleon prepared to leave Dresden. 
On the 28th he made aU his arrangemqpts with the 
Secretaries of State despatched from Paris to Dresden 
by the various Ministers, and the next day at two 
o'clock a.m., he left the Saxon capital to place him- 
self at the head of the finest army he had yet com- 
manded. The Prince of Neufchatel occupied a place 
in his carriage, the Grand Marshal and the Grand 
Equerry followed close behind ; the rest of his civil 
and military household had already preceded him. 
The Duke of Bassano and Count Daru remained at 
Dresden in order to forward despatches, while awaiting 
the Emperor's commands to rejoin him. 

No sooner was Napoleon gone than all the Princes 
hastened to return to their own realms. For the first 
time Marie-Louise beheld the crowd ebb away from 
before her. The only one who remained with her was 
her uncle, the Grand Duke of Wurtzberg. On the 5th 
of June, the Empress herself set out for Prague. The 



NAPOLEON A.SD HIS COURT AT DRESDEN. 101 

Emperor and Empress of Austria came to meet hei 
with all their Court. Her Majesty left her own 
carriage and seated herself in her father's. The entry 
of the brilliant corUge into the city of Prague was 
made amid the roar of cannon and the ringing of 
bells ; the streets were lined with troops, and all the 
houses were magnificently draped. 

On arriving at he^ apartments in the Palace, her 
Majesty found all the civil, religious, and military 
authorities of the city assembled, together with such 
personages as had not taken part in the cortege, and 
a numerous ''service of honour" selected by the 
Emperor of Austria from among the most distin- 
guished members of his household. 

On the 18th of June, Marie-Louise returned to 
^aint Cloud from Prague, 



102 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISB. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DEPARTURE OP NAPOLEON TO JOIN THE ARMY — THE MARCH UPON MOSCOAN 

THE CONSPIRACY OP MALLET — THE EMPEROR'S WORDS — THE DUKE 

OF ROVIGO — DISASTERS — NAPOLEON'S RETURN TO PARIS — THE PRAYER 
OF THE KING OF ROME — PREPARATIONS FOR A FRESH CAMPAIGN — 
THE DUKE DE FELTRB. 

Napoleon had set out for Poland, whither he was 
summoned by a people who believed that he was 
about to re-establish the kingdom, and restore its 
former boundaries. He did nothing of the kind ; his 
views were of a different nature, and this was an 
error which cost him dear. He marched at the 
head of the finest army that France had ever raised, 
reinforced by auxiliary troops from Italy and the con- 
federation of the Rhine, and provided with formidable 
parks of artillery and immense stores. 

At first victory seemed disposed to remain faithful 
to him who had hitherto been its favourite, and he 
marched on from success to success, so far as Smolensk. 
Having reached that town, he was a while disposed to 
advance no farther; he talked of this project to his 
confidants, and alluded to the region at which he had 
arrived as a barharous country. But one of his 
generals pointed out to him, that, as he had often 



MOSCOW. 103 

signed treaties of peace in capitals, he was bound to go 
on to Moscow, in order there to sign the peace with 
Russia. He hearkened to this imprudent counsel, and 
set out on his march towards the ancient capital of 
the Czars. 

When the Emperor arrived at Moscow, where he 
expected to get provisions for his troops, and to be 
able to give them some rest, he found the city burning, 
and no supplies for his army. He wrote to the Emperor 
Alexander, proposing to treat with him for peace. 
Several days elapsed before Alexander arrived at any 
decision; but at length he wrote to the General in 
command of his army to the effect that he would con- 
sent to treat for peace with Napoleon. At the moment 
when' the Czar's orders reached the Russian head- 
quarters, Moscow was in flames, and the cold had 
already set in with great intensity. The General took 
it upon himself to defer the execution of his Sovereign's 
commands, being convinced that the French army 
would be forced to retire, and that the Emperor would 
be well pleased with his disobedience. He was right ; 
the misfortunes of the French army were directly 
caused by that act.* 

While Napoleon v/as returning from Moscow, an 
extraordinary event was occurring in Paris.f A 

* This circumstance was commimicated to the author by a Russian 
nobleman who was perfectly acquainted with the facts. 

t It was at Smolensk, and during the disastrous retreat, that 
Napoleon was suddenly informed of the famous exploit of General 
Mallet. The following account of the incident is taken from S^gur's 



104 NAPOLEON AND MAiUE- LOUISE. 

person who had escaped from prison seized the 
Minister of Police, threw him into a dungeon, made 

Histoire de Napoleon el de la Grande Arm^e, pendant Vann€e 1812, 
vol. ii. ch. xii. : — 

" We were on the heights of Mikalewka, on the 6th of November, 
and the sleet-laden clouds had just discharged themselves upon our 
heads, when we saw Count Daru coming up in haste, and a circle of 
vedettes was formed around him and the Emperor. 

" An estafette, the first who had been able to reach us for ten days 
past, had just brought the news of that strange conspiracy, formed in 
Paris by an obscure general in confinement. His only accomplices 
were the false news of our destruction, and forged orders to some 
troops to arrest the Minister, the Prefect of Police, and the Comman- 
dant of Paris. The success of all this was due to the impulse of a 
fiist movemt nt, and the general ignorance and astonisihinent. But m. 
sooner had the first rumour of it been spread than an order suflSccd 
to consign the head of the conspiracy to prison once more, with his 
accomplices or his dupes. 

" The Emperor was informed simultaneously of their crime and their 
punishment. Those who tried from a distance to read his thoughts 
in his face saw nothing. He was absolutely reticent ; his first and 
only words to Daru were : ' Well ! and if we had stayed at Moscow ! ' 
Then he hastily entered a palisaded house which was used as a post 
of correspondence. No sooner was Napoleon alone with his most 
faithful and trusted officers than all his emotions broke out at once in 
exclamations of astonishment, humiliation, and anger. A few minutes 
later, he sent for several officers in order to ascertain the effect that 
had been produced by such strange news. He detected in them all 
distress, uneasiness, even consternation, and perceived that confidence 
in the stability of his government was shaken. He also came to know 
that his oflScers accosted each other with lamentation, and were agreed 
that the great revolution of 1789, which was supposed to be ended, was 
still active. 

"Some persons were rejoiced at the news, hoping that it would 
naston the Emi)eror's return to France, and that he would remain 
there, not exposing himself to risks from the outside, because he was 
no longer sure of the inside. As for Napoleon, all his thoughts had 
preceded him to Paris, and he continued to advance mechanically 
towards France ; but he had no sooner arrived than he summoued the 
Grand-Chancellor to Saint Cloud, and. advancing towards him the 
moment he caught sigkt of him, his eyea blazing with anger, ho 



mallet's conshkacy. 106 

himself master of the military post, and was on the 
point of overturning the Imperial Government in a 
few hours. This attempt was badly conducted, but 
the moment could not have been better chosen. The 
war with Russia had occasioned almost general dis- 
content ; the new levies of men which it had necessi- 
tated turned all classes against it. 

It was actually hoped that Napoleon might not 
obtain too great a success, because the general con- 
viction was, that if he did he would afterwards despatch 
troops by land to endeavour to destroy the English 
power in India. This appeared to be the real aim 
of his desires and his ambition. His absence, at so 
great a distance, made people talk and murmur more 
freely. The Ministers inspired but little fear. All 
things therefore seemed to unite to favour a conspiracy. 

At this moment Mallet, a general who was suspected 
by the Emperor, and shut up in an asylum on the pre- 
text of madness, conceived the project of a revolu- 
tion, and proceeded to put it into execution, without 
any settled plan, and without either accomplices or 
money. Having escaped from the house where he 
was confined, and provided himself with forged decrees 
of the Senate, which announced the death of the 
Emperor, and appointed General Mallet to the Military 
Command of Paris, he went alone, in the middle of 

addressed him in a voice of thunder : ' Ah, so you have come, sir ! Who 
gave you leave to have my oflScers shot? Why have you deprived me 
of the fairest of a sovereign's riglits, the right to pardon? Sir, you 
are very culpable I ' " — Communicated note. 



106 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

the night, to a barrack, read out the so-called decree 
of which he ^vas the bearer, and ordered a regiment 
to follow him. From thence he repaired to the prison 
of La Force, and in virtue of the dignity with which 
he had invested himself, he ordered the release of 
a general officer, named Lahorie, who had been im- 
prisoned on some police charge, and on whom he 
believed he could rely. The latter, with a detach- 
ment of the same regiment, proceeded to the hotel 
of the Minister of Police, informed him of the death 
of Napoleon, and, also, that he had the commands 
of the Senate to secure the Minister's person. The 
Duke of Rovigo, only half awake, surrounded on 
aU sides, and stunned by the double intelligence, 
allowed himself to be arrested and taken to La Force. 
Before seven o'clock in the morning, he was under 
lock and key in the same prison from which Lahorie 
had been released a few hours before, and he was very 
soon joined by the Prefect of Police, who had also 
allowed himself to be arrested with equal ciedulity. 

During this time. Mallet had gone to the staff- 
quarters of the Place de Paris, in order to arrest 
General Hulin ; but the latter was not so confiding 
as Savary. He asked to see the decree of the Senate, 
and Mallet, pretending to take it out of his pocket, 
drew a pistol, fired at the general and broke his jaw. 
At that moment. Adjutant- General Laborde, an active 
and dauntless man, arrived. 

On being informed of what had occurred, he con- 



mallet's conspiracy. 107 

vinced the officers who had followed Mallet that they 
were the dupes of an impostor, and seized upon him. 
Laborde then proceeded to the Ministry of Police, and 
there he found Lahorie, who, after having given the 
clerks orders to draw up a circular despatch, was in 
serious consultation with a tailor from whom he was 
ordering a coat. Laborde had him arrested, and then 
went on to La Force to release the Minister of Police. 
Lastly, having repaired to the department, he found 
another emissary sent by Mallet, and the Prefect, who 
was as credulous as Rovigo, busily engaged in the pre- 
paration of a room in which the provisional Govern- 
ment was to meet in the course of the morning. By 
eleven o'clock order had been restored everywhere. 

Marie-Louise was at Saint Cloud while all this 
was taking place in Paris. It must be said, to her 
honour, that she showed coolness and courage on the 
occasion. She commanded the few troops at the palace 
to place themselves under arms ; but this was barely 
done when she learned that the conspirators had been 
arrested. 

The news of the alleged death of the Emperor, and 
the authentic intelligence of the arrest of the Minister 
and the Prefect of Police, had spread rapidly through 
Paris without producing any effect. There was no mani- 
festation of joy, nor was there any sign of grief The 
faubourgs of Saint Antonio and Saint Marceau, which 
had been, respectively, such centres of agitation in all 
our revolutions, remained perfectly quiet. The only 



108 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE. 

sentiment by which the Parisians seemed to be 
animated was that of a spectator watching a game 
of dominoes — cuiiosity to know how all this would 
end. The next day no more was thought about it, 
except as it furnished an opportunity for sarcastic 
observations upon the Minister of Police, of whom it 
was said, among other things, that on the present 
occasion he had made a tour de force. 

While I am on the subject of the Mallet con- 
spiracy, I must relate an anecdote which does honour 
to the unfortunate Lahorie. A year before the time 
of which I am speaking, he had been sentenced to be 
shot. Savary, who had known him formerly, managed 
to save his life. At the moment when the arrest of 
the Duke was attempted, a sergeant in command oi 
a portion of troops accompanying Lahoiie, wanted to 
kill him. Lahorie rushed upon the sergeant, whom 
he disarmed, and declared that as the Duke had saved 
his life, nobody should touch him. Savary did what 
he could, after the event, to prevent the condemnation 
of Lahorie, and, having failed, he took special care of 
his family. 

As I have alluded to the Duke of Eovigo, I shall 
relate a few particulars which ought to modify the 
unfavourable impression of his character that has 
been produced by certain libellous publications. 

His father, a former lieutenant-colonel of the Royal 
Normandy Regiment of Cavalry, placed his son, then 
sixteen years of age, in that regiment, in 1789. The 



THE DUKE DE ROVIGO. 109 

young man was aide-de-camp to General Ferino for 
live years and a half; his good looks, and his gal- 
lantry in the war, had procured that post for him. 
He lost it on the 18th Fructidor, but served 
General Desaix in a similar capacity, accompanying 
him to Egypt and returning with him. On the death 
of the General, he became aide-de-camp to Napoleon. 

His great activity and exactitude rendered him 
a favourite with his superior officers; he was very 
ambitious and had a thirst for success ; his manners 
were rough, his tone was overbearing, but he had 
natural ability and great self-devotion. He said that 
when the Emperor was in question, he knew neither 
wife nor children; this was the very fanaticism of 
gratitude.* 

It is due to him to state that he never slighted 
any of his former friends. 

All the officers of the Royal Normandy Regiment, 
whether emigres or not, who wanted places, had only 
to apply to him. He got a prefectship for his former 
colonel. I could quote two hundred persons who have 
owed their means of livelihood to him. 

When he was Minister of Police he was constantly 
exposed to much that was very unpleasant in con- 
sequence of his patronage of certain persons. The 

* No doubt tliis saying of Savary's gave rise to the calumny 
{ft-eviously referred toby tlie write]-, and which imputed to N!ii)oleon the 
observation that he " liked Savary because he would shoot his father if 
he (thu Emperor) desired him to do so." — Trandaloi's note. 



110 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

two Polignacs, for instance, owe the many and great 
alleviations of their captivity to him. 

While these events were taking place, Napoleon had 
arrived at Moscow, and had seen the city burned by 
the Russians, so that the French might not profit by 
the provisions, the munitions, and the wealth of all 
kinds which it contained. Alexander kept his enemy 
amused by proposals of peace, because he was reckon- 
ing upon a powerful auxiliary, which could not fail 
to come to his aid, and was bound to be much more 
fatal to the French troops than all his own forces 
combined. Wise men feared and foresaw great mis- 
fortunes, but the Emperor would not listen to any 
advice. How could he make up his mind to retrace 
his steps without having struck a decisive blow ? At 
last, Prince Poniatowski spoke out to him. 

"Sire," said he, "your army is incurring the 
greatest danger. I know the climate; the weather 
is fine to-day, the thermometer stands at 4° (Reau- 
mur), but it may fall this very evening to 20° and 30°." 

Napoleon yielded, and gave the order for departure 
on the next day but one. On the morrow, however, 
the event predicted by Prince Poniatowski came to 
pass. The disasters which followed are well known. 
The French army was completely destroyed; those 
whom hunger, cold, or the Russian steel spared, were 
sent as prisoners to the depths of Siberia. 

The Emperor made his retreat, if indeed the name 
of retreat can be given to a precipitate flight; for 



THE ALLIES OF THE CZAR. Ill 

he did not ])ause once until he hud reached Saxon 
territory. 

The celebrated bulletin, drawn up by Napoleon 
himself, which allowed a great part of our vast mis- 
fortune to be discerned, without, however, making 
known its full extent, was received at Paris. All 
France was plunged into consternation ; there was 
hardly a family which had not either to mourn or to 
fear. 

Napoleon did not pause in Saxony ; he immediately 
resumed his journey to France. He had written to 
the Empress several times, but without announcing 
his return, and he arrived unexpectedly. Marie- 
Louise, who had been for some time very ailing and 

depressed, had just retired to lest; Mademoiselle K , 

who slept in the room adjoining her Majesty's, was 
preparing to do likewise, and about to close all the 
approaches, when she heard voices in the salon beyond. 
At the same moment the door opened, and two men, 
wearing heavy furred cloaks, entered the room. She 
rushed to the door of the Empress's room, to bar their 
approach, when, one of the two men having thrown off 
his cloak, she recognized the Emperor. A cry uttered 
by her had apprised the Empress that something 
extraordinary was occurring in the next room, and she 
was just getting out of her bed when the Emperor 
came in and clasped her in his arms. The interview 
was a tender one. Napoleon's companion was M. de 
Caulaincourt, who had come with him to nhe palace in 



112 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

a shabby caleche. So little were they expected, that 
they had great difficulty in getting the gates opened 
to admit them. 

There was less gaiety at Court that winter than 
during the last. The entertainments were few, and 
pleasure seemed to be banished from them. For some 
time Napoleon was gloomy and absent-minded ; he was 
reluctant to show himself in public, and seemed to fear 
that he would be badly received. In this he was mis- 
taken, and the public proved to him that he had mis- 
judged them. He appeared, indeed, in a new light ; he 
was no longer the ever-victorious hero : for the first 
time they beheld him unfortunate and a fugitive. His 
errors were blamed, the losses we had suffered were 
bitterly deplored ; but interest in him, affection for him, 
were re-awakened by the sight of him, and loud accla- 
mations greeted him, not of the purchased sort, but- 
coming from the heart. The French are eminently 
generous ; they proved it on this occasion. Even those 
who loved him not kept silence, and refrained from 
insulting him in a misfortune which so many brilliant 
memories entitled them to regard as merely temporary. 

This reception emboldened him; and having already 
resolved to form a new army without delay, he sought 
to make himself popular, because he knew that no 
sacrifice is too costly for the French, when it is made 
for a prince whom they love. He went out much 
more in public, visited all the institutions and public 
works, accompanied only by a single aide-de-camp, 



THE child-king's PRAYER. 113 

talked familiarly with all whom he met, and dis- 
tributed tokens of his generosity on all sides. He 
sometimes met with people who ventured to ask him 
for ** peace." To them he would reply that peace was 
the object of his most ardent desire; that France 
had won sufficient glory by her arms ; and that he 
purposed to make only one more campaign, in order 
to place the tranquility of the Empire upon a sound 
and solid basis. 

Madame de Montesquieu, who was anxious to in- 
spire her charge from his infancy with those principles 
of piety which were so remarkable in herself, had 
accustomed the King of Rome to pray to God night and 
morning. After the disasters of the Russian campaign, 
she taught him to add the following words to his 
childish prayer — " Inspire, O Lord God, my papa with 
the desire to make peace, for the welfare of France and 
of us all." One evening. Napoleon was in his son's 
room. The time came for the child to say his prayers ; 
Madame de Montesquiou made no change in them, and 
the Emperor heard the little King of Rome repeat the 
words which I have just quoted. He smiled, but said 
nothing. Napoleon was aware of the sentiments of 
Madame de Montesquiou; she had already had the 
courage to tell him what his flatterers sought to 
conceal from him, — the gi-eat need and the desire of 
France for peace. He listened to her calmly, answered 
that he wanted to make peace, and then changed the 
conversation. 



114 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

In the mean time preparations for this fresh cam- 
paign went on with incredible activity. New arms 
seemed to fall from the sky ; immense magazines of 
provisions, foiage, and munitions were formed ; and 
men rose apparently from the earth to fill up the 
roster of the former regiments or to form new ones, 
which passed in succession before the Emperor. One 
day, as he was looking at a newly formed regiment of 
Chasseurs defiling under the windows of the Tuileries, 
tie cried, " What a fine regiment ! With that one may 
be sure of conquering every one and everywhere/' 

The formation of the Guards of Honour excited 
against him aU the old nobles and all the rich people, 
who had paid considerable sums to shield their sons 
from the obligation of military service by purchasing 
substitutes for them : many persons had been obliged 
to do this twice and even three times over. The 
measure was so unjust and so impolitic, that many 
people suspected the Duke de Feltre, who proposed it, 
of the perfidious intention of turning against the 
Emperor that class which, although it was the least 
numerous, was the most to be feared, on account of 
its talents, its wealth, and its influence. In short, it 
was believed that the Minister had been suborned by 
some foreign power. 

The Duke de Feltre (Clarke) had also behaved in a 
suspicious way with respect to the conspiracy, or, as it 
ought rather to be called, the ill-concerted enterprise 
of General MaUet. He asserted that he had given 



DUBIOU'S ZEAL. 116 

orders to have Mallet arrested, and that he had 
mounted his horse and ridden through the streets of 
Paris in order to quiet and undeceive the public mind. 
It is quite true that he did all this, but not until after 
Laborde had arrested Mallet and taken the Duke of 
Rovigo out of La Force. Until then he had remained 
quietly in his house, and he appears to have waited 
until the whole thing was over before making any 
movement. 



116 iiAPOLEON AND MAKlE-LOUiiSa, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

napoleon's doubts op the good faith of AUSTRIA — THE DUKE OF 

BASSANO — MAKIE-LOUISE REGENT — OPENING OP THE CAMPAIGN OF 
1813 — COLIN THE COMPTUOLLER — DEATH OF GRAND-MARSHAL DUROC 
— THE emperor's UNEXPECTED RETURN TO SAINT CLOUD — THE 
PARISIAN NATIONAL GUARD — NAPOI.EON'S DEPARTURE FOR THE CAM- 
PAIGN OP FRANCE — HE IS BETRAY KD BY ONE OF HIS GENERALS — THE 
ARRIVAL OF THE ALLIES UNDER THE WALLS OF PARIS. 

Napoleon by no means deceived himself Avith regard 
to the crisis with which France was threatened; 
he clearly discerned the immensity of his peril, when 
he opened the campaign. Ever since his return from 
Moscow, he had fully recognized the danger of the 
situation, and applied himself to averting it. Thence- 
forth he had made up his mind to the greatest sacri- 
fices; but the moment at which he should acknow- 
ledge this was a difficulty with which his mind was 
especially occupied. 

The fidelity of the allies of France in Germany did 
not yet appear to be shaken ; neveitheless, he already 
entei'tained doubts of the good faith of Austria, and he 
imparted them to the Duke of Bassano, Minister of 
Foreign Afl[airs, who, notwithstanding his intelligence 



THE CAMPAIGN BEGUN. 117 

and finesse, was the last man who ought to have been 
placed in that important position, as he had been 
more than once duped by foreign Ca^'inets. Being 
questioned by the Emperor upon the dispositions of 
Austria, he assured him in the most positive way 
that they were entirely pacific and amicable. It 
appears, indeed, that the Minister, either credulous or 
deceived, was sincerely persuaded of this, and induced 
Napoleon to share his conviction. Marie-Louise, who 
trembled lest the union which had existed between 
her father and her husband should be broken, was 
grateful to the Emperor for the way in which he was 
acting, and for his confidence in the fidelity of the 
Emperor of Austria. She had not liked the Duchess of 
Bassano, but from that moment she took her into her 
good graces, and on every occasion lavished tokens of 
regard upon her. The Court was surprised to see the 
Duchess promoted to such favour all of a sudden, and 
attributed the fact to the intimacy which existed 
between her and Madame de Montebello. But every 
one was mistaken ; the real cause was that which I 
have just indicated. 

In the middle of spring the Emperor set out for 
the north of Germany, whither he had already 
despatched his troops. Before his departure, he 
appointed the Empress Regent of the Empire, and 
his brother Joseph President of the Council of 
Regency. Marie-Louise accompanied him so far as 
Mayence. On seeing the troops it was indeed difficult 

9 



118 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

to believe that they could have been furnished by a 
nation which had just lost so numerous an army in 
the preceding campaign. 

On the 2nd of May Napoleon opened the campaign 
of Saxony by the victories of Lutzen and Bautzen. 
But those victorious days were days of mourning 
for him : Bessieres, Duke of Istria ; Bruyere, General 
of the Guard ; and Duroc, the Grand Marshal, lost 
their lives. The Emperor was sincerely attached to 
all three. He felt the loss of Duroc more keenly than 
that of the others, owing to their old friendship and 
the associations common to both. 

Some details of Duroc's death may be acceptable. 
Those which I am about to relate, were communicated 
to me by an eye-witness of the event in whom I have 
entire confidence, and who remained with Duroc until 
he had ceased to breathe. 

The Emperor did not arrive at his head-quarters 
until the 20th of May, at nine o'clock in the evening. 

" Every day has its troubles," said he to the 
principal of&cers of his army who surrounded him; 
" let us give a few moments to rest, and we will begin 
again to-morrow." 

He then sat down to his modest repast, and 
remarking the presence of his first Comptroller, M. 
Colin, he said to him with a smile, " Ha ! ha ! are you 
there, Monsieur le brave ? " Turning to the Prince of 
Neufchatel, he added, " This devil of a fellow actually 
came to look for me this morning in the midst of the 



THE DEATH OF DUROC 119 

battle to give me a crust of bread and a glass of wine ! 
It was not a very convenient place, was it, Colin ? 
You will remember that breakfast." 

" Yes, Sire," muttered the faithful servant between 
his teeth ; " and especially the bombshells that were 
dancing about your Majesty." 

The next day — a day of battle — the Emperor kept 
at the heels of the vanguard. The bullets whistled 
like a hailstorm around him, and he could not conceal 
his vexation on seeing the enemy's army constantly 
escaping him. 

" What !" said he, "no result after such butchery ? 
Not a prisoner ! These people will not leave so much 
as a nail behind them ! " 

At that moment one of his escort, a Chasseur of 
the Guides, was killed by a Russian bullet. Napoleon, 
who saw him fall almost under his horse's feet, said, 
addressing his Grand Marshal, " Duroc, fortune has 
a spite against us to-day." 

The day was not ended. 

The Emperor, perceiving a height from whence he 
could see what was passing, galloped rapidly down 
the hollow in order to regain a narrow way which 
led to it. He was accompanied by the Duke of 
Yicenza, the Duke of Treviso, Marshal Duroc, and 
General Kirgener of the Engineers; all following at 
a quick trot and close together. At that moment the 
enemy fired three cannon shots ; one of the balls struck 
a tree close to the Emperor, and ricochetted. Napoleon, 



120 NAP0L13.ON AND AlAKiE- LOUISE. 

having reached the plateau which overlooked the 
ravine, turned rountl to ask for his field-glass, and 
saw nobody but the Duke of Vicenza, who had 
followed him. Duke Charles of Placenza came up 
soon afterwards and whispered something to the 
Grand Equerry. The Emperor asked what it was. 

" Sire," said the Duke of Vicenza, " the Grand 
Marshal has been killed." 

" Duroc ! " exclaimed the Emperor. " Bah ! that is 
not possible ; he was beside me just now." 

On this, the page on duty came up with the 
glass; he was as pale as death, and he confirmed 
the sad news. He had seen the ball ricochet from the 
tree and strike, first General Kirgener, and then the 
Duke of Friula. 

" Kirgener was killed on the spot, but the Grand 
Marshal is not yet dead ; and 3^our Majesty's glass has 
escaped," added the page, with a forced smile. 

During this time the doctors, Larrey and Ivan, had 
hurried up, but they could do nothing ; the intestines 
had been torn by the ball. 

All the army participated in the grief which 
absorbed Napoleon. The old Grenadiers said, as they 
fixed their eyes upon him, " Poor man ! that one was 
an intime ! " 

The news that his Grand Marshal had ceased to 
suffer, which was brought to him in the morning, 
did more to turn his thoughts from his sorrow than 
even the tortuous manoeuvres of the enemy. Some 



THE B£Q£NTS LETTEHS. 121 

time after this event, the Emperor said to one of his 
generals that he had lost at Bautzen, in the most 
stupid way in the world, the three men whom he 
liked best and esteemed still more ; Bruyere, Bessi^res, 
and Duroc. The three were killed on the same day 
by three trifling cannonades. 

The battle of Leipsic was fought a few days after- 
wards, and was followed by the desertion of the 
Emperor by his allies. Napoleon was obliged to 
leave Germany as precipitately as he had fled from 
Russia, and was only enabled to reach Mayence by 
the noble self-devotion of his Guard, who were cut 
to pieces in covering his retreat. 

The Regent wrote frequently to the Emperor, 
and did not conceal the state of feeling in Paris and 
the provinces, where all desired peace and loudly 
demanded it. 

We had just received the news of some slight 
successes, and a glimmering of hope had been re- 
awakened at Court, when two wretched hack carriages 
arrived at Saint Cloud, The Emperor was recognized, 
and his unexpected return at once revealed that he 
had to announce fresh disasters. The Empress was 
with her son. Some one went to tell her ; she ran 
to meet her husband, who was coming up the steps 
of the palace, and threw herself into his arms in 
a flood of tears. Napoleon, deeply moved, clasped 
her to his heart with the utmost tenderness, and their 
little son, who was brought down by his governess. 



122 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE, 

added the last touch to a family picture, which was 
deeply interesting to the small number of spectators 
who witnessed it. 

The Empress, aware of the conduct of Austria, 
dreaded the return of the Emperor almost as much as 
she desired it. He was calm, resigned, and did not 
yet despair of his fortunes, but applied himself to 
calculate the resources which still remained to him. 
Above all, he did not show the slightest disposition to 
hold his wife responsible for the faithlessness of her 
father. 

There was no longer any question of carrying the 
war into distant lands, of making conquests, of 
destroying ancient monarchies, or of founding new 
ones ; the pressing matter was to prevent the foreigner 
from penetrating into the heart of France, and to 
maintain the integrity of her territory, so as to secure 
the safety of the Imperial crown, which was now in 
danger of falling from the head of Napoleon. To 
do this he must create a new army for the second 
time ; procure arms, munitions, horses, victuals, money, 
and above all, men. The measures which were 
adopted were equivalent to the former convocation 
of the ban, and the arriere-ban. 

At the mention of the fresh forces the general 
discontent reached its heig^ht, and althouo:h it did 
not break out into sedition, it found utterance in 
murmurs, and the orders of the Government were 
executed slowly and only in part. The Chamber of 



THE TRUTH AT LAST. 123 

representatives was summoned, and the deputies 
appeared there to give voice to the feelings and 
wishes of their constituents, who had everywhere 
declared for peace. Napoleon's reverses had restored 
some courage to the friends of liberty. The Senate 
persisted in the system of base flattery which had 
degraded it in the eyes of all Europe, but the Legis- 
lative Body exhibited more spirit, and ventured to 
make the truth audible.* Hence the improvised 
reply made by the Emperor to the deputation from 
the Legislative Body, on the 1st of January, 1814.t 
On the 23rd of the same month, Sunday, the officers 
of the National Guard of Paris were ordered to assemble 
at the Tuileries in the Salle des Mar^chaux. This 
salon is square, and very large ; it occupies the first 
floor of the Pavilion de I'Horloge. The officers, who 
were not informed of the purpose for which they 
were summoned, were about seven or eight hundred 
in number, and were all in uniform. They were 
ranged around the vast salon. At noon. Napoleon, 
who had crossed this apartment as usual on his 
way to the chapel, was saluted by repeated cries of 
" Vive r Empereur f " On his return, he walked all 
round the room several times, and, after he had 
spoken to some of the chief officers, he placed himself 
in the centre. 



* See Pi^e Justificative, No. I., in Appendix, 
t Idem., No. IL 



124 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Ten minutes afterwards, Marie-Louise entered the 
Salle des Mar^chaux, accompanied by Madame de 
Montesquiou, who held the King of Rome in her 
arms. When she had taken her place by the 
Emperor's side, Napoleon addressed the National 
Guards, by whom he was surrounded, in a loud voice, 
to the following effect : — 

" Gentlemen, a part of the territory of France is 
invaded ; I am about to place myself at the head of 
my army, and, with the help of God and the valour of 
my troops, I hope to drive the enemy back beyond 
the frontiers." 

Then, taking the Empress and the King of Rome 
each by a hand, he added with emotion — 

" If the enemy approaches the capital, I confide 
the Empress and the King of Rome — my wife and 
my son — to the devotion of the National Guard" 

This simple address produced a great effect. 
Several of the officers stepped out of their ranks and 
kissed the Emperor's hands ; the greater number shed 
tears. Among the latter were many who were by 
no means partial to the imperial regime, but this 
scene had affected them. 

After he had embraced his wife and his son for 
the last time, Napoleon left Paris on the 25th of 
January, 1814, at three o'clock in the morning, to place 
himself at the head of the small and hastily formed 
army, which formed his sole means of opposing the 



THE CAMPAIGN OF FRANCE. 125 

great host of soldiers from all the countries in Europe, 
now pouring down upon the north of France from 
every point. Each step that they took augmented their 
pretensions ; but the Emperor still had the oppor- 
tunity of making at least an honourable, if not a 
glorious, peace. Once more he held in his hands a 
treaty to which nothing but his signature was wanting. 
Most unhappily he achieved a partial success at that 
critical moment, and it stayed his hand. Once more 
he believed that the star which had guided him so 
long had reappeared above* the horizon, and he de- 
clared that he would not think of peace until he had 
forced the enemy to re-cross the Rhine. Then it was 
that Napoleon executed the skilful movement which 
ought to have secured his triumph, but which in fact 
wrought his ruin. The enemy were to have found 
themselves enclosed in a square formed by all our 
divisions ; the peasants, driven to despair by pillage 
and slaughter, were to have formed as many troops 
of light infantry, who should massacre the loiterers and 
the fugitives'; but one of Napoleon's generals betrayed 
him, and gave passage to the Emperor of Russia and 
his army. The foreign troops were under the walls 
of the capital while Napoleon was confidently waiting 
to cut off their retreat. 

I have heard distinguished generals say that his 
" Campaign of France " was his masterpiece of 
capacity, skill, and activity ; that posterity, more 



126 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

just than his contemporaries, would place it in the 
first rank of the extraordinary things done by a man 
who had no equal ; and that, if he had been seconded, 
the enemy would have been destroyed, and Paris saved 
from their presence. 



( 127 ; 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE UNCERTAINTY OF MARIE-LOUISE. 

CLARKE INDUCES THE EMPRESS TO LEAVE PARIS FOR RABIBOUTLLET — 
THE CAPITAL ON THE 29TH AND 3UTH OF MARCH, 1814 — KING 
JOSEPH AT MONTMARTEE — HEROIC CONDUCT OF THIIEE HUNDRED 
DRAGOONS — THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL — CAPITULATION OF PARIS — 
THE PREFECT OF LOIR ET CHER — ARRIVAL OF THE EMPRESS AND THE 
KING OF ROME AT BLOIS— BIGOT DE PRiiAMENEU AND THE xM INISTKRS 
—MARIE-LOUISE LEARNS AT BLOIS THE ABDICATION OF NAPOLEON 
AND HIS DEPARTURE FOB THE ISLE OF ELBA. 

Marie-Louise and her son were then at Paris, pro- 
tected by the National Guard, to whom, as I have 
already said, the Emperor had solemnly confided 
them when he was going away. This corps showed 
itself worthy of his confidence. The Empress had 
intended to proceed to the Hotel de Yille with the 
King of Rome, but she was dissuaded from doing so. 
Unfortunately she had about her only cowardly or 
perfidious advisers, who combined together to hasten 
her departure. She resisted for a long time, having 
a great example for so doing in her own family — that 
of Marie-Tht^rese. What did she risk by remaining ? 



128 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

She was the daughter of one of the monarchs who 
had formed a confederacy against France ; she w-as 
therefore certain of being treated with respect by 
the allied troops if they should enter Paris, and sup- 
posing Napoleon were to lose the crown, was it not 
possible that she might preserve it for his son ? 
By leaving Paris, on the contrary, where the fate 
of France had always been decided for the last 
twenty-five years, she bade adieu to every hope, and 
left the field free to the partisans of the Bourbon 
dynasty, who now manifested their opinions openly. 
The confidence which the French had reposed in the 
invincibility of their army was ■ already considerably 
weakened by the dangers which increased at every 
moment. The public plainly expressed a fear that the 
Allies would reach the gates of Paris, and several 
people had packed up their most precious goods in 
readiness to be despatched to the provinces farthest 
from the scene of war. At the same time, a great 
number of the inhabitants of the villages, farms, 
and country houses in the neighbourhood of the 
capital, came into Paris, bringing a more or less 
considerable portion of their furniture. The result 
was that the faubourgs, and all the roads leading to 
them, were encumbered with carts laden with goods, 
people of both sexes and all ages, and with cattle 
of every kind. The Empress had not a moment to 
lose, in gaining an open road by which to escape &om 
the capital. 



UNCERTAINTY OF MARIE-LOUISE. 129 

At last the Duke de Feltre succeeded in inducing 
her to leave Paris, by producing at the council a 
letter from the Emperor, in which he was instructed 
to send away the Empress and her son, if Paris was 
threatened. Napoleon added, "I would prefer to 
know that they were both at the bottom of the Seine, 
rather than in the hands of the foreigners." The 
Empress's departure was decided upon during the 
tiight of the 28th of March, and on the 29th, at eleven 
o'clock in the morning, the whole Court set out for 
Rambouillet, abandoning the capital to its fate. ' 

A proclamation addressed to the Parisians had, 
however, been posted up, with a letter of King Joseph's 
as a sort of preface, but no measure of any kind for 
protection had been taken, not even the natural one of 
transferring the Senate and the Legislative Body to 
another city. 

I cannot refrain from recording here an anecdote, 
which some will no doubt consider puerile, but which 
I regard as remarkable. When the moment of depar- 
ture came, the little King of Rome, who was accus- 
tomed to make frequent excursions to St. Cloud, 
Oompi^gne, Fontainebleau, etc., would not leave his 
room. He screamed violently, rolled himself upon the 
ground, said that he would remain at Paris and that 
he would not go to Rambouillet. In vain did his 
governess promise him new toys ; no sooner did she 
take him by the hand and try to lead him out, than 
he again flung himself down and struggled, screaming 



130 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

still more loudly that he would not leave Paris. It 
was necessary to take him by force to a carriage. 

I had remained in Paris to assist M. Ballouhai 
to collect several articles belonging to the Empress, 
which had been left behind in the haste of her 
departure. I was therefore at the Tuileries on the 
1st of April (the day before the arrival of the Allies), 
when a general officer, the Prince of Wurtemberg, 
arrived. He asked us where the Empress was, and on 
learning that she had left Paris, he seemed greatly 
disturbed, and added that he had been charged to 
provide a guard for her, and to take the command 
of it. " What had she to fear ? " said he to us. " The 
daughter of the Emperor of Austria was quite certain 
of our respect." 

The drums had been beaten during a portion of 
the night of the 29th ; aU the National Guard was on 
foot — I will not say under arms, for a great portion of 
the men who composed it had only pikes. The chiefs 
had sent to the Duke de Feltre to ask for arms, and 
were told that he had none at his disposal ; neverthe- 
less when the Allied troops entered the capital, they 
found considerable stores of arms in the magazine. 

From seven o'clock in the morning the firing of 
cannon was heard on every side. 

The French army, which had quitted its position at 
Bondy, the day before, to fall back on Paris, was 
stopped at the heights of Montmartre and Belleville, 
already occupied by the ai-my of observation under 



KING JOSEPH. 131 

command of Marshal de Ragusa. In accordance 
with the plan made by the general council of the 
Allies, the Prussian General, BlUcher, was to atta.ck 
Montmartre, while the Russian corps, commanded by 
General Barclay de Tolly, was to advance against 
Belleville ; but it was impossible for Bliicher, who was 
informed too late, to arrive in time to act in concert 
with them, and on the 30th at seven o'clock in the 
morning, such fierce fighting was going on between 
Pantin and Romainville, that the position at Mont- 
martre had not yet been threatened. 

While the slaughter on the northern and eastern 
heights was proceeding, Joseph Bonaparte was at Mont- 
martre with his Staff. The sight of the danger seemed 
to have roused a momentary energy in him, which he 
seldom displayed. Fired by the example of the 
brave soldiers by whom he was surrounded, he mani- 
fested confidence which did singular honour to French 
valour, for he must indeed have entertained a lofty 
idea of the bravery of the army, to persist in hoping 
that he could yet defend besieged Paris, at the 
moment when the enemy's troops entered the plain 
of St. Denis. While he was occupied in giving orders 
and making fresh dispositions of his troops. Colonel 
Peyre, whom he had sent to reconnoitre, returned to 
give an account of his mission. This superior officer 
had been made prisoner by the Russians, and taken to 
the Emperor Alexander ; he was then able to estimate 
the immense distance to which the forces of the enemy 



132 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

extended. Being released by order of the Czar, he 
went at once to King Joseph, told him in detail all 
that he had seen, and assured him that resistance 
must be henceforth useless. Then Joseph, losing 
courage, exclaimed, "If that is the case, nothing 
remains but to parley." 

But the brave soldiers who surrounded him, and 
who were enraged at the idea of yielding, cheered up 
his disconsolate mind, and, almost in spite of himself, 
he continued to give orders for fighting. Until then 
King Joseph had remained firm at his post ; but when 
at length he saw that all hope was for ever lost for 
himself, his brother, and his family, forewarned by 
Marshal de Ragusa that his troops, harassed by 
a murderous fire, were about to be crushed by the 
overwhelming number of their assailants, and that it 
would then be impossible to preserve Paris from 
being occupied by main force. Napoleon's Lieutenant- 
General felt that the moment of his fall had arrived. 
He sent Colonel Peyre to Marshal de Kagusa with 
an authorization to demand a suspension of arms, and 
even a capitulation, if he judged it absolutely neces- 
sary. Having made these arrangements, Joseph 
abandoned Montmartre, re-entered Paris, and, two 
hours later, took the road to Blois in the hope of 
rejoining the Empress and the King of Rome, who had 
proceeded thither on the previous day. 

On abandoning Montmartre, King Joseph left be- 
hind him only three hundred dragoons, commanded 



THE GALLANT TUREE HUNDRED. 133 

by an officer, to defend that important post. Twenty 
thousand meu of the Silesian army, infantry and 
cavalry, then proudly advanced against this handful 
of heroes, who were animated equally by the love ot 
their country and the love of glory. Far from trying 
to fly, they obstinately persisted in defending the 
post confided to them. They stood firmly by the 
guns which had protected them, and in the strength 
of their courage alone they charged the enemy with 
their accustomed impetuosity, and three times they 
had the triumph of repulsing that terrible mass of 
assailants. This would be an inconceivable thing had 
they not been Frenchmen. Three hundred French- 
men to resist with some advantage twenty thousand 
foreigners ! Nevertheless at every minute the ranks 
of these new Spartans were thinned, and soon, like 
those of Thermopylae, they would all have perished, 
had not their commander, perceiving that they were 
about to be turned from the plain of Neuilly, ordered 
the retreat to be sounded, leaving the enemy amazed 
at the daring which had been displayed by all ranks 
of our army during the whole of this memorable day. 
The artillery had been served on the Buttes de 
Chaumont by the pupils of the Polytechnic School — 
youths from seventeen to twenty years of age, who 
fought like old soldiers. The balls were exhausted, 
when a chest arrived. They opened it eagerly, and 
saw nothing in it but bread. They exclaimed, " We 
don't want bread, but balls." The balls were sent to 

10 



134 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

them, but, either from treachery or in consequence of 
the confusion which prevailed, they were unservice- 
able, being too large for the guns. 

During this time, the capital, abandoned to itself, 
had organized a Provisional Government, and capitu- 
lated with the Allied troops, who made their entry on 
the following day. Napoleon was almost a spectator 
of that entry, for he arrived on the same day, with 
one of his aides-de-camp, to reconnoitre the situation 
of the enemy. He was only five leagues away when 
he learned that Paris had capitulated; he then lost 
all hope, and returned to Fontainebleau utterly dis- 
couraged, as will be seen in the following chapter, 
which I have entitled, " Napoleon at Fontainebleau." 
Nevertheless he still had thirty thousand men of that 
Imperial Guard which was formerly so famous with 
him there. They loudly demanded that he should lead 
them to Paris, swearing to conquer or be buried under 
its ruins. The Emperor did not consent ; although he 
had done everything in his power to deceive the in- 
habitants of the capital to the last moment, and to 
disguise from them the real state of things and their 
own situation ; if at least we are to rely upon a bulletin 
written long beforehand, and which was to be printed 
in the Moniteur of the 31st. The original of this 
document was communicated in manuscript to me, and 
I have thought it sufficiently curious to give a copy of 
it here. For all this, however, Napoleon had done too 
much in favour of the city of Paris to be willing to 



JOURNEY OF THE EMPRESS. 135 

destroy it. His refusal displeased the soldiers and 
cooled their enthusiasm. 

The treachery of one of his generals, the reproaches 
of several others, the truths which the persons around 
him at length permitted thomselves to speak, must 
have taught him then that flatterers are not friends. 
Lastly they pressed him to abdicate, and he made up 
his mind to that step. 

The Empress merely passed through Rambouillet on 
her way to Blois, with the Council of Regency and a 
portion of the Guard. 

On the 30th she slept at Chartres, on the 31st at 
Chateaudun, and on the 1st of April at Vendome, 
where she arrived at three o'clock in the afternoon. 
The road from Vendome to Blois was only in process of 
making, and the greater number of the vehicles, espe- 
cially the most heavily laden, stuck in the mud. All 
the horses had to be used to extricate a few of them, 
and when these had been got out, the same operation 
was performed on the remainder. Thus was effected 
the flight of that Imperial Court which only a few 
days ago had been so brilliant ! 

At Blois the Court was in perfect security. The 
Allied troops had not yet advanced on that side, and 
Cristiani de Ravazan, Prefect of Loire- and-Eure, who 
had already been warned of the approach of Marie- 
Louise and her son, had proceeded to the boundary of 
his Department to " compliment " the Empress, when 
he received a communication from the Court which 



136 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

obliged him to return to Blois in all haste, and to 
evacuate the Hotel de Ville in order to make it ready 
for the reception of the Court. 

The principal inhabitants and functionaries, espe- 
cially those residing near the prefecture, were requested 
to prepare lodging for Madame M^re; the Kings Joseph, 
Lucien, and Jerome; the High Chancellor, Cambaceres; 
the Ministers and Chiefs of Administration ; and, 
finally, for eighteen hundred soldiers. On the 2nd of 
April, very early in the morning, the first detachment 
of cavalry began to arrive at Blois, and were speedily 
followed by immense quantities of baggage, and espe- 
cially fifteen fourgons containing the treasury of the 
Imperial Court. The number of vehicles was so con- 
siderable, that the train of the Empress alone amounted 
to two hundred horses. These equipages, all huddled 
together, and covered with the mud they had collected 
during the journey, presented a singular aj^pearance. 
It was the rain which cleaned them, for, in the existing 
state of things, the servants did not think proper to do 
anything of the kind. The superb State carriages, even 
that which had been used at the Emperor's marriage, 
were no better treated. 

Couriers came in hour after hour. In the afternoon 
M. Cristiani de Ravazan set out to meet the Empress, 
a league from the city. The National Guard and the 
small garrison that remained placed themselves under 
arms, and at six o'clock a carriage in which the 
Empress and her son were seated appeared. It was 



UNCERTAINTY OF MARIE-LOUISE. 137 

followed by a great number of other carriages, contain- 
ing her suite and all those persons who had accompanied 
her. Her Imperial Majesty made her entry into Blois 
in the midst of a numerous crowd, who maintained 
unbroken silence. 

Those Ministers who had gone so far as Tours, now 
began to arrive. Several had remained at Orleans, 
others had fled to Brittany ; of the latter number was 
Count Bigot de Preameneu, Minister of Public Worship, 
of whom I have already spoken, and Baron de Pome- 
reul, Director-General of Publication. They no doubt 
regarded the exercise of their peaceful functions as 
incompatible with the tumult of arms, and the aid of 
their counsels as superfluous. 

For a few days after her arrival, Marie-Louise was 
left in ignorance of all that had taken place in Paris. 
The decisions of the Provisional Government and the 
decrees of the Senate were unknown to her ; all the 
newspapers were kept from her ; the Bourbons were 
never mentioned to her. She therefore anticipated no 
other misfortune in addition to that of Napoleon's being 
obliged to make peace on any conditions that might 
be imposed upon him. 

She was also far from imagining that the Emperor 
of Austria, her own father, meant to dethrone his 
son-in-law, and to deprive his grandson of a crown 
which he ought one day to wear. It was not until 
the 7th of April, in the morning, that the truth was 
made known to her. 



138 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Madame D , who had remained at Paris, was 

now to rejoin the Empress. On the 4th of April, 
certain persons came to her, and informed her that 
she would have to take important documents to Marie- 
Louise, which it was essential the Empress should 

receive without delay. Madame D procured a 

passport, obtained from General Sacken an order for 
an escort in case of need, left Paris on the 6th, and 
arrived at Blois on the 7th. She handed to her 
Majesty not only the papers which had been confided 
to her, but the decrees of the Provisional Government, 
and all the newspapers. The Empress had been kept 
in such complete ignorance of events, that she hardly 
believed what she read. The dispatches which 

Madame D had brought were from the small 

number of persons who remained faithful, and they 
urged and entreated her to return to Paris, before the 
arrival of a Prince of the House of Bourbon, assuring 
her of the Regency for herself and the throne for her 
son, if she would take this step. How easily it could 
be done was proved by the fact that the lady charged 
with these dispatches had travelled alone, in a post- 
chaise, with a single servant, and had not once had 
occasion to use her passport. 

Marie-Louise promised to return to Paris ; she 
seemed resolved to do so, on the very same evening, 
when Dr. Corvisart and Madame de Montebello 
opposed themselves to her project. The cowards com- 
posing the Council of Regency came to the support of 



EVIL COUNSELS PREVAIL. 139 

these evil advisers. The unfortunate Princess was 
deceived anew, and she lost the opportunity of 
recovering what her flight had forfeited. A few days 
afterwards she learned simultaneously that Napoleon 
had abdicated, and that he had departed for the Isle of 
Elba. He was still permitted to be sovereign there. 



140 NAPOLEON AND MAUIK-LO UlSK 



CHAPTER XV. 

NAPOLEON AT FONTAINES LE ATT. 

THE EMFEBOB LEAVES TROTES — HIS ARRIVAL AT THE ** rONTAINE DE 
JUVIST" — GENERAL BELLIARD — THE DUKE OF VICENZA — ARRIVAL AT 
FONTAINEBLEAU — MARSHALS NEY AND MACDONALD — THE ABDICATION 
OP NAPOLEON — MM. DEJEAN AND DE MONTESQUIOU — ISABEY— THE 
ALLIED COMMISSARIES — THE COURTYARD OF " LE CHEVAL BLANC " — 
napoleon's words — HIS DEPARTURE FROM FONTAINEBLEAU. 

On the 29th of March, 1814, at ten o'clock in the 
morning. Napoleon leftTroyes on horseback. He was 
accompanied by General Bertrand, his Grand Marshal 
the Duke de Vicenza, his Grand Equerry, M. de 
Saint Aignan, two aides-de-camp, and two orderly 
officers. On the 80th, at two hours before daybreak, 
the Emperor set out from Villeneuve for Yannes. 
Since his departure from Troyes he had eaten nothing. 
The ten first leagues had been travelled with the same 
horses in less that two hours. He had not yet an- 
nounced whither he was going, when at one o'clock 
in the afternoon he arrived at Sens. After he had 
rested there for a quarter of an hour, during which 
time he drank half a cup of cofiee without milk or 
sugar, he left these gentlemen, whom, however, he 



BY THE "FONTAINE DE JUVISY." 141 

ordered to follow him, got into a wretched hack 
carriage, accompanied by Bertrand only, and continued 
his way towards the capital. Never was there 
impatience equal to his ! He incessantly repeated, 
" It will be too late, I shall not arrive." He changed 
horses at Fromenteau, and arrived at half-past twelve 
at the Cour de France, only five leagues from Paris, 
such was the speed he had made. 

Napoleon had hardly left his carriage, and seated 
himself beside the Fontaine de Juvisy, while waiting 
for fresh horses, when a convoy of artillery defiled 
before him. It was the head of the first column of 
troops, evacuating the capital after the affair that 
had taken place in the morning. Then and there he 
acquired the sad certainty that he had in fact arrived 
twenty -four hours too late. Paris had just yielded to 
the enemy, the Allies were to enter the next day (the 
31st), at daybreak. 

General Belliard, who accompanied his column, 
announced the issue of the events of the day to the 
Emperor, and he was soon placed in possession of the 
terrible details of our great calamity. 

Napoleon walked about on the road for nearly 
twenty minutes without addressing a single word to 
the generals of all arms, who followed one another 
and hastened up to him. Presently he sent M. de 
Caulaincourt to the head-quarters of the Allied Sove- 
reigns ; then, entering the posting-house, he called for 
a crlass of water, which he drank without removing it 



142 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

from his lips, and also for a map, which he studied 
for a long time. At four o'clock in the morning an 
express arrived from the Duke of Vicenza, who 
announced that all was over, that the capitulation had 
been signed two hours after midnight, and that Paris 
was for the moment under the protection of the 
National Guard. Napoleon got into his carriage, and 
immediately took the road to Fontainebleau. On his 
arrival there he shut himself up in his cabinet, and 
would not see any one. 

On the 4th of April, the Emperor, having abdicated 
in favour of his son, nominated Marshals Ney, Mac- 
donald, and Marmont to make known his resolution 
to the Allies. Marmont declined to accompany his 
colleagues into the presence of the Sovereigns. The 
proposal made in the name of Napoleon was rejected ; 
the recall of the House of Bourbon had been decided 
upon. Without entering here into the details of the 
negotiations which took place between Napoleon and 
the Emperor Alexander, I shall content myself with 
saying that Marshals Ney and Macdonald, accom- 
panied by the Duke of Vicenza, arrived from Paris on 
the 6th, between twelve and one o'clock in the morn- 
ing. Marshal Ney told the Emperor that abdication 
pure and simple, without any addition beyond the 
guarantee of his personal safety, was exacted from 
him. Napoleon refused for some time to consent to 
this ; finally he asked to what place he should be 
expected to retire. 



THE FATE OF NAPOLEON. 143 

" Sire, to the I&le of Elba," replied Ney, '* with a 
pension of two millions a year." 

" Two millions ! " said Napoleon ; " that is too much 
for me ; since I am henceforth merely a soldier, one 
louis a day is quite enough for me." 

Finally, the Act of Abdication * was signed at 
Fontainebleau, on the 11th of the same month. 

During his stay at Fontainebleau, and after his 
abdication, the Emperor remained constantly in the 
library, reading or talking with the Duke of Bassano. 
He appeared several times in public as usual, for the 
purpose of reviewing his Grenadiers. During these 
last days a greater number of petitions than usual 
were presented to him, and, instead of giving them to 
an officer of his suite, he would put them in his coat 
pocket and read them in his cabinet. He often 
entered the gallery parallel with the library, and 
talked familiarly with any officers who were there, 
on the events of the day and on what the public 
papers said of him. 

One day he came in with a newspaper in his 
hand,t and exclaimed indignantly, '' They say that 
I am a coward ! " In general he talked of political 
events as if he had no personal interest in them. 
He frequently spoke of Louis XVIII. " The French," 
said he, " will love him during the first six months, 

* See "Pifece Justificative," No. 3. 

t It was the Gazette de France of Monday, the 4th of April, 1814, 
Na94. 



144 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

they will grow cool about him during the next 
six months, and the following six, adieu ! I know 
them ! " 

On reading an account of the harsh treatment that 
had been inflicted upon the Pope, he said, " That 
is true, the Pope was ill-treated, more ill-treated 
than I wished." Talking one morning with General 
Sebastiani, he observed that it was neither the Rus- 
sians nor the other Powers that had conquered him, 
but liberal ideas, because he had oppressed them too 
much in Germany. Another time the Emperor sent 
for the Duke of Bassano, and, in the course of a con- 
versation between them, these words were remarked : 
"You are reproached, Monsieur le Due, with having 
constantly prevented me from making peace. What 
do you say to that ? " 

"Sire," replied the latter, "your Majesty knows 
very well I was never consulted, and your Majesty has 
always acted according to your own will, without 
taking counsel with the persons about you; I have 
not therefore found myself in a position to give you 
advice, but only to obey your orders." 

" Ah ! I know it well," replied the Emperor ; " and 
what I say to you is only to let you know the opinion 
that is held of you." 

Nevertheless, Napoleon appeared for some time 
to be occupied by a secret design. His mind was 
plainly dwelling upon the gloomiest passages of 
history. In his private conversations he dwelt inces- 



NAPOLEON ATTEMPTS SUICIDE. 145 

santly upon the voluntary death which the men of 
antiquity did not hesitate to inflict upon themselves 
in such situations as this. His constantly and calmly 
discussing this subject created great uneasiness, and 
a circumstance occurred which added to the fears justly 
entertained by those around him. 

The Empress had left Blois ; she was anxious to 
rejoin her husband, and she had already arrived at 
Orleans ; she was expected every moment at Fon- 
tainebleau, when all who were there learnt with 
astonishment, and from the mouth of the Emperor 
himself, that orders had been given to prevent her 
from carrying out her design. 

During the night of the 12th-18th, at about one 
o'clock in the morning, the silence of the long corridors 
at Fontainebleau was suddenly broken by frequent 
comings and goings. The persons on duty in the 
chateau ascended and descended the stairs ; candles 
were lighted in the apartments ; everybody was on 
foot. One ran to knock at the door of Dr. Yvan, 
another to wake the Grand Marshal, a third to call 
the Duke of Vicenza, and a fourth to summon the 
Duke of Bassano, who was residing at the Chancellerie. 
AU these personages arrived at the same time, and 
were taken into the Emperor's bedroom. In vain did 
astonishment, suspense, and curiosity lend an alarmed 
and attentive ear. Nothing could be heard but groans, 
and sobs, from the ante-chamber ; the sounds reached 
the neighbouring gallery. AU of a sudden Dr. Yvan 



146 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

came out of the inner apartment, looking greatly agi- 
tated ; he rushed down the grand staircase, wandered 
about for a minute in the court, found a horse tied to 
a railing, flung himself upon it and galloped off The 
profoundest obscurity has always veiled the mysteries 
of that night.* 

Isabey had made a water-colour portrait of the 
Empress Marie-Louise and her son, which she herself 
presented to the Emperor on the 1st of June, 1814. 
This portrait was now in the painter's possession. 

♦ At the period of the retreat from Moscow, Napoleon had secured 
means to avoid falling alive into the hands of his enemies in case of 
accident. He had procured, through his surgeon Yvan, a sachet which 
he wore round his neck during the time tliat the danger lasted. 
Some said this was opium ; others insisted that it was a preparation 
compounded by the celebrated Cabanis, and the same with which 
Condorcet the Deputy had destroyed himself; — whatever it was, 
Napoleon had preserved this sachet in one of the secret drawers of a 
travelling dressing-case which he always took on his campaigns. 
That night at Fontainebleau, he bethought him that the moment to 
have recourse to this terrible expedient had arrived. One of the 
valets, whose bed was placed behind his half-opened door, had heard 
him rise and seen him stir something into a coffee-cup, drink it, and 
lie down again. In a short time violent pains in the stomach and 
bowels forced from Napoleon the admission that he was dying. Then 
the man took upon himself to send for those who were most intimate 
with the Emperor. Yvan was not forgotten, and when he learned 
what had happened, and heard Napoleon complain that the action of 
the poison was not sufficiently rapid, he lost his h(^ad and rushed 
away from Fontainebleau. After a long swoon, followed by a profuse 
perspiration, the pains ceased, and the alarming symptoms disappeared, 
either because the dose had been insufficient, or because the poison 
had lost its strength through time. It is said that Napoleon, aston- 
ished to find himself still alive, reflected for a few moments, and then 
exclaimed, "God does not will it to be," and yielding himself into the 
hands of Providence, who had just saved his life, resigned himself to 
his new destinies. — Communicated note. 



ISABEY. 147 

Having learned from M. de Caulaincourt that Napoleon 
had expressed a desire to have it, Isabey hurriedly 
set out for Fontainebleau, where he arrived on the 
12th, at about noon. When he was ushered into 
the Emperor s cabinet he found the Grand Marshal and 
the Duke of Bassano there. On seeing him, Napoleon 
cried, " Ah, it is Isabey ! What news ? " Isabey 
answered that he had come to thank the Emperor for 
all his kindness, and that, having learnt through the 
Duke of Vicenza that he wished to have the portrait 
of the Empress, he had brought it to him. Napoleon, 
on receiving it, pressed his hand several times, without 
saying one word. As the artist wore the uniform of 
a Lieutenant of Grenadiers in the National Guard, the 
Emperor said to him, " Isabey, are you also in the 
National Guard ? " He replied that although he had a 
son in the army who had fought on the Plain of 
Champagne, and of whose fate he was ignorant,* he 
himself had never wished to return to Paris. Napoleon 
added, " That is well, Isabey. Very well. I recognize 
you there." The painter then retired. 

Count D6jean, son of the ex-Minister of War, and 
M. de Montesquiou, son of the Grand Chamberlain, 
both generals of division, were sent to Paris by 
Napoleon two or three days before his departure for 
the Island of Elba. Count Dejean was so little able 
to control himself and to conceal the profound grief 

* Isabey learned, the next day, that Mb son had been killed ui 
battle, at Arcis-sur-Aube. 



148 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

# 

which the state of things occasioned him, that at 
tahle he would come out of a dream when any one 
addressed him, and he several times struck his fore- 
head, muttering, " Is it possible ? Who could have 
thought it ? Can it be ? " As for M. de Montesquiou, 
he always answered with great precision and extreme 
amenity. 

On the 16th, the Commissaries who were to 
accompany Napoleon, by his own desire, to the place 
of embarkation, arrived at Fontaineblcau.* Thev 
were all received separately by the Emperor, who 
said to Colonel Campbell, that " he ha^l cordiall}^ 
hated the English lor fifteen years, but lie luas at last 
convinced that there was more generosity in their 
Government than in that of the others." 

The departure of the Emperor was to take place 
on the 20th, at eight o'clock in the morning, and the 
carriages were ready. The Imperial Guard was in 
line in the great coui't of the Cheval Blanc, and an 
immense crowd, composed of all the ]3opulation of 
Fontaineblcau and the neio-hbourino- villai-es, assembled 
round the chateau. At ei^-ht o'clock in the mornino- 
however, the Commissaries ha^dng been introduced to 
his apartment, found him still undressed and unshaved. 
At eleven o'clock. General Berti and having resj^ectfully 
observed to Napoleon that everything was ready for 
his departure, the Emperor answered in an angry 
tone, " And since when, i\Jonsieur le Marechal, lia\e 
• See " Pi^ce Justificative," No. 4. 



napoleon's farewell. 149 

I had to regulate my actions by your watch ? 1 
shall go away when it pleases me, and perhaps not at 
all." 

Towards mid-day, the Emperor was in his cabinet 
with MM. de Flahaut and Ornano, when Bertrand 
announced to the Commissaries who were waiting in 
the ante-chamber, "His Majesty the Emperor." All 
ranged themselves on each side and in silence, accord- 
ing to the ordinary etiquette, which was observed up 
to the last moment ; a door was opened, Napoleon 
appeared; he crossed the gallery rapidly, and descended 
the great staircase. So soon as he appeared in the 
court the drums beat. With an imposing wave of the 
hand he silenced them, and addressed the troops 
with so much dignity and warmth that all those who 
were present were profoundly touched. Then he 
clasped General Petit in his arms, kissed the Imperial 
Eagle, and said in a broken voice, '* Adieu, my children! 
My best wishes will remain with you always. Preserve 
the remembrance of me." He gave his hand to be 
kissed by the officers v\]io surrounded him. Napoleon's 
eyes were wet ; all present wept. The emotion spread 
even to the Cossacks, although they did not understand 
a word of French. Several of his own servants who 
were to follow him burst into tears. The Emperor 
(rot into the carriagre with General Bertrand ; it was 
preceded by that of General Druot, and followed by 
the four carriages of the Commissaries. Eight others, 
with the Imperial arms, came after. They were 
11 



150 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

occupied by the officers of the Imperial household. In 
a few minutes aU these carriages disappeared, the 
Guard marched out of the chateau, find the crowd 
melted away in silence. 



( Ifil ) 



CHAPTER XVI. 

OPPOSmON TO THE REUNION OF MARIE- LOUISE WITH FAPOLEON — 
JOSEPH AND JEROMK ATTEMPT TO CARRY OFF THE EMPRESS — THE 
HETMAN PLATOFF — MARIE - LOUTSE AT ORLEANS — M. DUDON 
GOES TO CLAIM THE CROWN JEWELS — THE NECKLACE — THE 
CORONATION CARRIAGE — INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE EMPEROR OF 
AUSTRIA AND HIS DAUGHTER — THE INGRATITUDE OF NAPOLEON'S 
VALETS — RUSTAM THE MAMELUKE, AND CONSTANT, FIRST VALET- 
DE-CHAMBRE — THE GREAT DIGNITARIES — PASSPORTS — THE DUKE OP 
ROVIGO — MARIE-LOUISE AT VIENNA — MEANS TAKEN TO INDUCE HER 
TO CONSENT TO A I'lVORCE — COUNT DE BAU8SET AND M. DE RIG- 
NOLET — MADAME MERE — CARDINAL FESOH. 

The chiefs of the Royalist party at Paris were not 
without anxiety respecting the resolution at which 
Marie-Louise might arrive, at Blois. Not only did 
they fear her return to the capital, but they did not 
wish her to follow her husband to the Island of Elba, 
because they dreaded that their reunion might sooner 
or later bring about a reconciliation between him and 
the Emperor of Austria. Prince Schwartzenburg was 
at their head. He was one of the firmest supporters 
of the party of the Emperor of Austria, and con- 
sequently he detested Napoleon and did not like 
Marie-Louise. Nevertheless, he kept on good terms 



162 NAPOLji^ON and MAKIE-LOUISE. 

with M. de Montesquieu and the few persons who 
possessed the confidence of Napoleon's wife. He 
gained over some, deceived others, and succeeded in 
making all aid in the execution of his projects. 

So soon as the Empress was known to hesitate about 
what she should do, and that she talked of rejoining the 
Emperor at Fontainebleau, M. de Champagny was sent 
off to inform Prince Schwartzenburg, who was then in 
the neighbourhood of Troyes. The Prince despatched 
the Hetman of the Cossacks to Blois on the spot, and 
he arrived at the moment of the Empress's departure 
for Orleans. The troops by whom he was accompanied 
formed the vanguard. They pillaged a fourgon contain- 
ing bonnets and caps, they would probably have 
pillaged all the carriages, if their chief had not ap- 
peared on the spot and made them restore the spoil. 

When the Emperor's brothers Joseph and Jerome 
were apprised of the abdication of Napoleon, they 
strenuously endeavoured to induce Marie-Louise to 
repair to Tours with them and the army which was 
to cross the Loire. Their entreaties were urgent, 
but they did not transgress the respect which they 
owed to their sister-in-law. I was in the adjoining 
room. The Empress, who had made up her mind to 
go to Orleans, refused to accompany them. They left 
her and departed from Blois. The narrative of M. de 
Bausset is a fable. 

During this time the perfidious advisers of the un- 
fortunate Empress employed all their skill to dissuade 



TREACHEROUS FRIENDa 153 

her from rejoining her husband. It was represented 
to her, on the one side, that the climate of the Island of 
Elba would be fatal to her health, and, on the other, 
that Napoleon, whose fall from his throne was partly 
due to the arms of his father-in-law, and who was re- 
duced to a petty sovereignty, would no longer regard 
her as he did in the past, and that she would have to 
bear his incessant reproaches. It was added that, in the 
interest of her son,she ought to rejoin her father, who had 
always loved her, and would certainly secure a princi- 
pality for her preferable to the Island of Elba ; and that 
she might even induce him to take some step favour- 
able to Napoleon. One only among her ladies ventured 
to tell her that her duty and her honour demanded 
that she should follow her husband into his exile. 

" You are the only one who hold this language to 
me," said the Empress ; " all my friends, and, above 
all, Madame de C , advise me to the contrary.'' 

"Madame," replied the lady who had given her this 
advice, " that is because I am the only one who does 
not deceive your Majesty," • 

Marie-Louise preferred, however, to follow the 
counsel of those whom she ought to have mistrusted, 
all the more readily that they began to let out 
their true feelings. " Oh, how I wish that all this was 
over and done with ! " said Madame de Montebello, 

* After Marie-Louise had seen her father at Rambouillet, she ex- 
pressed to Madame D her bitter regret that she had not foUowed 

her adrioe. 



154 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

while breakfasting with her on the very day when 
they were to set out for Orleans ; " how I should 
like to be quiet, with my children, at my little 
house in the Rue d'Enfer ! " " What you say, Madame 
la Duchesse, is very hard," replied the Empress, with 
tears in her eyes, but she reproached her no further. 
The Lady-in- Waiting had already formally declared, 
that in no case whatever would she go to the Island of 
Elba. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that, if she 
had really entered into the plot to separate Marie- 
Louise from Napoleon, it was because she wanted to 
avoid either the disorace of refusinor to follow the 
Empress or the sacrifice of her inclination by accom- 
panying her. 

She did, however, attend her so far as Vienna 
On her arrival at Orleans, the Empress found there 
several regiments who were greatly exasperated, and 
raised by day and night, but especially by night, cries of 
''Vive I'Empereur !" The Commissaries of the Govern- 
ment arrived at the municipality, bringing orders from 
the new rulers, and the white cockade. The inhabi- 
tants, although very Royalist, dared not assume this, so 
much afraid were they of exciting the anger of the 
soldiery. 

It was proposed to the Empress that she should 
profit by the sentiments of the garrison who surrounded 
her, to rejoin her husband. She pleaded the dangers 
of the road. She was assured that there were no 
dangers— and that was quite true. But Madame de 



THE CROWN JEWELa 166 

M and Madame D stood alone in their advice 

against the persons to whom the Empress was most 
attached. Another method proposed by them was 
equally rejected. In vain did they use the most re- 
spectful solicitations. Marie-Louise was quite willing to 
rejoin Napoleon, but being assailed by so many differ- 
ent opinions, and unable to distinguish rightly between 
their respective sincerity, she was so unfortunate as to 
follow the advice of those who desired to replace her 
in her father's hands, and to separate her from Napo- 
leon. This they succeeded in doing. During her short 
stay at Orleans, M. Dudon came, in execution of the 
Articles of Abdication by the Emperor, as Commissary 
of the Provisional Government, to demand the crown 
jewels, the treasure, the plate, etc. 

Each time that a " Journey of Representation " was 
made by the Court, the crown jewels and all ornaments 
which the Empress would require were given in charge 
to one of the ladies of the household. The individual 
receiving them gave a receipt, which was returned to 
her when she restored the jewels. Just before the 
departure of the Empress the usual receipt was given 
to M. de la Bouillerie, who sent M. Dudon to Orleans, 
to take away all the precious objects " belonging to 
the Crown." 

A dispute then arosb between M. Dadon and tho 
lady who had the jewels m charge during the journey. 
The latter claimed an " eselavage " of pearls which the 
Emnress had on her neck at the tima This neck- 



156 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

lace, composed of a single row of pearls, had cost 
500,000 livres, and had been given by the Emperor 
to the Empress shortly after the birth of her son, 
Tt had always made a portion of her private jewellery. 
M. de la Bouillerie had never claimed it, but M. Dudon 
now did so. A lady of the household went to thu 
Empress, who was in, her salon, surrounded by a 
numerous company, and informed her of the dispute. 
At the first word, Marie-Louise unclasped the neck- 
lace, and putting it into the lady's hands said : " Give 
it to him and make no remark." 

When Bonaparte was made First Consul, there were 
no crown jewels remaining except the '' Regent,' 
which was then in pawn at Berlin for four millions. 
He redeemed it, and acquired or obtained by his 
victories jewels which now constitute those of 
the Crown of France, and are of great value. Bv 
the Emperor's orders we delivered them all up to the 
Commissary of the Provisional Government who had 
come to claim them in the name of M. de la Bouillerie. 
He also received the magnificent table services, the 
Coronation service in vermeil, which was a master- 
piece of workmanship, and an immense quantity of 
plate. The whole was placed in twenty-one fourgons. 
The twenty-second contained thirty-two little barrels 
each enclosing a million m gold. This fourgon, which 
was placed in the Court of the Secretariat, at the 
Episcopal Palace, was seen by all the National Guards 
•who lined the first court at the moment when, in the 



COUNT D'ARTOIS AND THE TKEASURE. 157 

name of the Emperor, the thirty-two little barrels 
were handed over to M. Dudon, the Government Com- 
missiary. These twenty-two fourgons started for 
Paris, whither I went the following day. I found them 
at Etampes, where I counted them anew. 

When the fourgon laden with gold arrived at the 
Tuileries, the Count d'Artois, who was there with his 
suite, ordered four barrels to be brought to him. He 
had them opened, and said to all who were present : 
"Help yourselves, gentlemen; we have suffered together, 
we ought to share the present good fortune." Each 
took as much as he could carry, and the barrels were 
soon empty. I have this anecdote from an officer of 
the National Guard who was on duty in the apart- 
ment and witnessed the distribution. I have thought 
it right to dwell upon the handing over of the treasure 
at Orleans, at which myself and several persons were 
present, in order to refute a lying assertion contained 
in the newspapers of the time, which affirmed that the 
Princes Joseph and Jerome had pillaged the treasure. 
I have given an account of the facts. It is asserted 
that none of the gold was ever restored to the 
Treasury; others say that twenty millions were 
restored. I am entirely ignorant of the truth in this 
respect. 

On the 3rd of April, Palm Sunday, Mass was said 
at the palace by M. Gallais, Cur^ of the Church of 
St. Louis, for there was neither almoner, chaplain, nor 
clerk of the Imperial Chapel among the persons in the 



158 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

suite of the Empress. After Mass, a council was held 
by the Ministers. At five o'clock, her Majesty received 
the authorities of the city, without any address on 
their part on account of the circumstances. Marie- 
Louise, followed by her son, passed through the ranks 
of these authorities, addressing a few words to each of 
them, beginning with the clergy — a remarkable inno- 
vation, which did honour to the piety of the Empress. 
The most profound sadness was depicted on her 
face. She dined alone, and did not receive any one 
afterwards. 

The next day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, 
the Kings Joseph and Jerome, accompanied by the 
Minister of War, left Blois for Orleans. I have heard 
it said that the object of their journey was to ascertain 
whether it would not be well to establish the Regency 
in that city, in order to render communication with 
the Emperor more easy ; but on their arrival at Orleans 
at three o'clock in the morning, the two Kings received 
despatches from Fontainebleau, in which Napoleon's 
displeasure with the Regency was expressed in terms 
of the most violent anger. Without doubt the 
Emperor attributed the capitulation of Paris to the 
flight of Joseph, whom he had nominated Lieutenant- 
General of the Empire, and to whom he had sent orders 
to remain at his post. 

It was only there that they became aware of 
Napoleon's order of the day, dated 4th April, 1814.* 
* See "^Pi^ JuBticative," No. 5. 



A FRUITLESS PUllSUIT. 159 

The fact is, that the two brothers returned to Blois on 
the following morning. 

On Wednesday, the 6th, the pupils of the Polytechnic 
School, and the schools of St. Gyr and Chalons, with 
the pages and the greater part of the civil household 
of the Emperor, arrived. The carriages, now become 
useless, were sent to Tours, the Coronation carriage 
was despatched to Chambord. The city of Blois was 
full ; there was not an inhabitant who had not shared 
his house, his room, or even his bed with the newly 
arrived guests. Then did Blois offer a striking 
picture of the instability of human things. During the 
stay of the Empress at Blois and at Orleans, a daily 
correspondence had been established between herself 
and Napoleon, who was expecting her arrival. She 
wrote to him that it was her intention to have 
an interview with her father, and to implore his 
support for her husband. This plan not having 
obtained his approbation, she had him informed that 
her health required that she should " take the waters," 
and she asked his consent to her making the journey. 
Napoleon, perceiving that the intention was to separate 
him from his wife, sent off a numerous detachment of 
his Guard on the moment, and followed it closely ; but 
notice was given of his departure, and that of the 
Empress was hurried on. On arriving at Etampes he 
learnt that Marie- Louise had already passed through 
that town on her way to Rambouillet, where she 
remained several days, awaiting her father. 



160 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISK 

At Rambouillet she received a visit from the 
Emperor of Russia, who wished to see " the little 
King " (by this title he asked for him). The King of 
Prussia came afterwards, and he, too, wished to see 
" the little King." Finally the Emperor of Austria 
arrived. The interview was affecting; he wept with 
his daughter and embraced his grandson ; nevertheless, 
both one and the other were ruthlessly sacrificed. 

Napoleon, having arrived too late at Etampes (the 
Empress having passed through an hour before), could 
not attempt to follow her, since the whole country 
was occupied by the Allied troops. He returned to 
Fontainebleau, entertaining no doubt of his wife's 
feelings, and convinced that she had been forced to 
withdraw herself. Knowing nothing of the intrigues 
by which she was surrounded, he found it difficult 
to believe in the ingratitude of most of those whom 
he had laden with favours, several of whom did not 
even wait for his departure to throw ofi" the mask 
and reveal the reality. His commissaries and his 
generals never left oft* reminding him of the advice 
that they had given him on such and such occasions, 
and declared that, if it had been followed, matters 
would have turned out differently. In fact, he was 
the sick lion in the fable, whom all the animals came 
to insult in their turn, neither was the kick of the 
ass spared him. 

A despicable Mameluke, whom he had brought back 
from Egypt and attached to his private service, on 



THE FAITHFUL FEW. 161 

whom he had already settled four or five thousand 
livres annually, insisted upon being paid forty thousand 
francs to go with him, and, after having received the 
money, he left Paris and returned no more. • Constant, 
his first valet-de-chambre, also exacted a sura of forty 
thousand francs to go with him to the Island of Elba, 
and, after having received it, disappeared from Fon- 
tainebleau the very day before the Emperor's departure 

Of all the persons attached to the personal service 
of Napoleon, MM. Hubert and Paillard, whom the 
Emperor had not named to accompany him, — quite 
young men, highly educated, and bound to their country 
by domestic ties, — were the two who replaced the 
fugitives, and in their fidelity there was no merce- 
nary motive. They did not return to France until 
they had placed M. Marchand, whose fidelity to the 
Emperor is so well known, in a position to act as their 
substitute. M. Colin, the Emperor's maitre d'hotel, 
gave his master a similar proof of attachment, and did 
not quit the Island of Elba until the state of his health 
forced him to return to France. 

On leaving Paris, the bigh functionaries of the 
Imperial Court, as well as the great dignitaries of 
the Crown, had had no time to provide themselves 
with passports, nor, indeed, had they thought of doing 
so, relying upon their titles for security ; but that 
which had been a safeguard when they were leaving 
the capital, became a danger when they were leaving 
Blois. They were obliged to pass through a long 



162 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE, 

line of Allied troops, and the rank of a minister or 
favourite of Napoleon, far from being a title of recom- 
mendation, became on the contrary a motive fof per- 
secution. This new state of affairs was discussed, and 
it was resolved that passports should be procured from 
the Mayor of Blois,and M. de Schouvaloff be requested 
to affix his visa to them. 

The first of these requests was attended with no 
difficulty, except in its execution, which was unpleasant 
because a personal description of each " Excellency " 
was indispensable. But the head clerk of the Mairie, M. 
Bru^re, acquitted himself of his task with all the tact 
and consideration demanded by the singular position 
of these great personages. The worthy functionary 
would have wished to escape this necessity, and it was 
not without sharing their own feelings, that he set 
down in wiiting, the features of kings, princes, 
ministers, great officers of State, and other individuals, 
who taxed his zeal without exhausting it, notwith- 
standing that he had to fill up four hundred pass- 
ports.* 

This, however, Avas only the first of two operations ; 
the second concerned Count Schouvaloff. A few hours 
after the Austrian General had arrived at the head- 
quarters of the Allied Sovereigns, the chiefs of the 
Paris Government presented themselves with their 

* These four hundred passports produced a profit of eight hundred 
francs — the only revenue that the city of Blois derived from the 
accidental sojourn of the Imperial Government. — Communicated nota 



COUNT SCHOUVALOFF. 163 

passports, to receive his visa. Very soon the room 
in the Hotel de la Galore, where he was lodged, was 
found too small to contain the number of applicants, 
each of whom wanted his own special business done 
quickly and done first. Those who had procured 
letters of recommendation arrived with their letters, 
and presented them to the General ; who replied, on 
receiving them, that he had the highest consideration 
for their writers, but that, so great was the pressure 
on his time, he was obliged to beg each applicant 
either to wait or to return. Nevertheless, his treat- 
ment of the different functionaries made it evident 
that he was aware of the conduct of each of them. 
It was remarked that he lent himself to everything 
that could be agreeable to the Duke de Feltre, and 
that he did not sign the passport of the Duke of 
Rovigo until after he had written on the margin, " M. 
de Sayary." 

While Napoleon and most of the members of his 
family and of his Government were quitting France 
(that France which the Emperor had rendered so 
great and so powerful), Marie-Louise was leaving 
the country in another direction. On her departure 
from Hambouillet * she was obliged to stop at Gros 

* When she left Rambouillet she was accompanied by her son and 
by Madame de Montesquiou, governess to the young Prince, and 
attended by Madame SouflSot, the under-governess, and also by Madame 
Marchand, first " berceuse," and mother of M. Marchand, whose devotion 
to the Emperor is so well known. She was rejoined at Gros Bois by 
the Duchess of Montebello and Madame Corvisart, who accompanied 
her to Yienna. 



164 NAPOLEON AND MAEIE-LOUISE. 

Bois, where she remained for two days, being indis- 
posed. She returned to Vienna by the southern route, 
and passed through the Tyrol, where she was forced 
to be present at several fetes. For these she had little 
heart ; but such were the orders of Francis II. 

At last she arrived at Vienna, but she had brought 
a numerous and brilliant suite, and this displeased her 
stepmother, again exciting her jealousy. She was 
sent away to Schonbrunn, where she was visited 
tolerably frequently by her sisters, but very rarely 
by her father and the Empress.* 

It was at this time that Madame (the Duchesse 
d'Angouleme) wrote to the Empress of Austria, saying 
that, if Marie-Louise had left in Paris any persons in 
whom she took an interest, she, the Duchess, would 
undertake to protect them, and procure them employ- 
ment. This generous offer was communicated by the 
Empress to her step-daughter, who accepted it, and 
sent a list of the names of four individuals — one 
woman, and three men. I do not know what her 
Royal Highness has done in favour of these latter, 

♦ Everybody knows that the Dauphiness was the aunt, "k la 
mode de Bretagne," of Marie-Louise. Queen Marie Antoinette was 
the sister of Caroline Queen of Naples. Madame d'Orleans, the 
Empress of Austria (mother of Marie- Louise), and the Prince who 
was the father of the Duchesse de Berri, were all three children of 
Queen Caroline, and consequently, all three, cousins to Madame d'An- 
gouleme. The Empress Marie- Louise, the Duke de Berri, and the 
children of the Duchess of Orleans are all nephews and nieces of the 
Dauphiness, " ^ la mode de Bretagne ; " and the Duke de Bordeaux 
(the late Comit de Chambord), as well as the son of Marie-Louise (the 
deceased Duke de Beichstadt), were her grand-nephews in the same 
maimer. 



THE EX-QUEEN OF NAPLES. 166 

but I had the good fortune to be the woman recom- 
mended to the kindnoss of the august Princess, and I 
have obtained a pension for the former services of my 
husband, and a bourse for my son at the College of 
Henry IV. I shall preserve a grateful memory of 
these favours all my life. 

Marie-Louise, on her return to Vienna, found there 
her grandmother Caroline, ex-Queen of Naples, who 
blamed her severely for having deserted her husband. 
Marie-Louise excused herself on the plea of the ob- 
stacles that had been raised to her reunion with him. 
'•' My daughter," said the ex-Queen, " one can always 
jump out of a window. What will the world say 
of you ? It will judge you severely." Marie-Louise, 
who lacked strength of character, and had no confi- 
dence in herself, could not be reconciled to the unfor- 
tunate circumstances in which she was placed. She 
was surrounded at Vienna and at Parma by persons 
devoted to the Empress of Austria and to M. de 
Metternich. The enmity of the Austrian Cabinet to 
Napoleon was not satisfied. He had still to be 
wounded through all he held most dear, and nothing 
was omitted that could intensify his misfortunes. 

It was represented to Marie-Louise that divorce 
was necessary, that circumstances absolutely imposed 
it upon her, and those persons in whom she had the 
greatest confidence were employed to use all their 
influence to induce her to consent. Count de Bausset, 
who was at the head of her household, and Madame 

12 



166 



NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 



de Brignolet, who had been appointed Lady-in- Waiting 
after the departure of the Duchess of Montebello 
(she had remained only two days at Vienna, and had 
left that city with Corvisart), employed every means 
of persuasion during several months to bring the 
Empress to the point of making this sacrifice. The}- 
never succeeded. Having fallen ill some time after- 
wards, Madame de Brignolet acknowledged on her 
deathbed the harm which she had done, and implored 
forgiveness from Marie-Louise. This she easily 
obtained. She also made the same request to Madame 
de Montesquiou, to whom she had done all sorts of 
ill offices, not only with Marie -Louise, but also with 
the Empress of Austria. Let me say here, that every 
effort in the direction of divorce proved useless. 
Napoleon's wife declared bravely that she chose to 
retain that title, and that she would never give her 
consent to any proceedings tending to a divorce. 

Such was the state of things in Austria, when 
Napoleon quitted the Island of Elba. On the 12th of 
April, Madame Mere left Blois with Cardinal Fesch, 
her brother, who bad arrived there only the evening 
before, by a long and winding road. After the first 
alarm, which had been given at Lyons on the 12 th of 
January, his Eminence found himself in a difficulty 
between his family affections and his love for his 
country. The voice of kindred, however, being the 
stronger, prevailed with the Cardinal. He left his 
See, and followed the civil authorities to Roanne, but 



CARDINAL FESCH. 167 

ill pleased by the spirit of the Lyonnese, who, he said, 
"had been so stupid as not to defend themselves," 
he went from Roanne to Pradines, and took up his 
abode in a religious house which he had founded ; but 
he was soon obliged to abandon this retreat, where he 
narrowly escaped being taken by a detachment of 
the Allies' cavalry, passing through by chance. He 
had barely time to mount a horse and escape. His 
apartment was visited as an object of curiosity, but 
there was no violation of the rights of property. His 
stables were also visited, but not equally respected. 
The troopers found some fine remount horses there, 
and considered themselves free to dispose of them 
in the absence of their owner. From Pradines his 
Eminence reached Auvergne, then Lower Languedoc, 
and finally the banks of the Loire, arriving at Blois 
just in time to leave the city. The Cardinal arrived 
at Orleans on Easter Sunday, and set out for Rome 
on the following day, taking with him Madame Mere. 
The Kings Jerome and Joseph were lost in the 
crowd. Louis had remained at Blois, where some 
interest in him was shown. He also found a more 
solid source of consolation in religion, and on Palm 
Sunday and Good Friday he attended Mass in the 
parish church of St. Louis, wearing the uniform of 
a General of Division. Soon afterwards he went to 
Switzerland, with the intention of settling on an 
estate which he possessed in the neighbourhood of 
Lausanne, and living there as a private gentleman. 



168 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Jerome and Joseph passed eight days in Orleans and 
its neighbourhood, and departed on the 18th, also 
taking the road to Switzerland. I was told that 
Jerome remained several days at La Motte Beuvron, 
where he distributed money to the troops passing 
through, in order to rally them to the cause of his 
brother Napoleon. 



t ISO ) 



CHAPTER XVn. 

THE PARIS NEWSPAPERS — NAPOLEON's CONVERSATION — A SHORT HISTORI- 
CAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW — M. AND MADAME GUIZOT — THE 
CURE OF SALVAGNY — ARRIVAL AT LYONS — AUGEREAU — AVIGNON — 
SUPPER AT ST. CANAT — THE SUB-PREFECT OF ST, MAXIMIM — PRINCESS 
PAULINE — ARRIVAL AT FREJUS— COMPLAINTS OF THE E31PEBOR — 
COMPOSITION OF HIS HOUSEHOLD — EMBARKATION — GENERALS DRUOT 
AND BERTRAND — DEPARTURE FOR THE ISLE OF ELBA. 

On leaving Fontainebleau, Napoleon was received 
everywhere with cries of " Vive I'Empereur ! " and 
the foreign Commissaries had much to suffer from 
the insults heaped on them by the people all along 
the road. On the following day, most of the journals 
of the capital endeavoured, by weak witticisms, to 
lessen the effect produced by the grand scene which 
had preceded his departure. But all who were not 
entirely devoid of generosity, whether friends or 
enemies, were affected by it. The foreign Commis- 
saries who were witnesses of that scene, moved by an 
involuntary impulse of enthusiasm, had waved their 
hats in the air, and when she heard the account of it, 
Madame de Stael herself was thrilled with emotion.* 

♦ For details of this scene the reader may be referred to the en- 
graving of M. Horace Veruet, " Les Adieux ii Fontainebleau." The 



170 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

It is an undeniable fact that the soldiers who were 
present wept profusely while Napoleon was speaking, 
and that some officers broke their swords on re-enter- 
ing the city. 

The Emperor said several remarkable things in 
conversation during this sad journey. I shall only 
quote here those which I have received from oral 
witnesses, because they alone are worthy of attention. 
He knew that he had been bitterly reproached with 
not having inflicted death upon himself. " I see 
nothing great," said he, "in ending one's life as if one 
had been dishonoured, or had lost one's fortune at 
play. There is much more courage in surviving a 
great and unmerited misfortune. I have never feared 
death. This I have proved in more than one fight, 
and very lately at Arcis-sur-Aube."* 

" I have nothing with which to reproach myself. 
... I have not been an usurper, as they persisted in 
saying everywhere. I accepted the crown only by the 
unanimous desire of the nation. ... As for the wars 
that I have made, that is another thing. I believed it 
my duty to make them, since France required to be 
extended." He afterwards said to General Koller, 
" Well, General, you heard me speak to my old Guard 

fidelity of the portraits and the exactness of the attitudes render this 
composition a valuable historical mouumeiit. 

* Before leaving Arcis, and after the fight, Napoleon sent two 
thousand francs, by Count de Turenne, from his private purse, to the 
Sisters of Charity, iu order that they might have the means of relieving 
the needs of the wounded and the poor. 



napoleon's ktbmarks. 171 

yesterday; you saw the effect I produced. That 
is the way to speak and act with them, and if Louis 
XVIII. does not follow this example, he will never 
make anything of the French soldier." 

These words led him to praise the Emperor Alex- 
ander, for the amicable and generous manner in which 
he had treated Louis XVIII. and most of the Princes 
of his family, when he went to ask for an asylum in 
Russia. "That," added he, "is treatment which I 
should vainly have expected from my father-in-law ; 
nevertheless, I had some rights, it seems to me." 

That day he kept Colonel Campbell to dinner, and 
talked much to him of the last campaign. " But for 
that animal L— — ," said he, " who made me believe 
that it was Schwartzenburg who was pressing me 
at St. Dizier, while it was only Wintzingerode, and 

but for that other brute D , who was afterwards 

the cause of my descending upon Troyes, where I 
counted upon disposing of four thousand Austrians 
and did not find a cat, I should have marched to Paris, 
arrived there at the same time as tbe Allies, and not 
been to-day where I am." Then, after a long pause, 
he added, "But I have always been ill surrounded. 

And then those rogues of prefects ! that M , that 

T , who assured me that the levies of troops were 

going on with the greatest success ; and that traitor 

M , who finished the business. But there are also 

other marshals equally ill-intentioned, among others 
S , whom indeed I have always known, both him 



172 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

and his wife, to be schemers. She was the constant 
cause of my quarrels with that poor Josephine." 

He talked for a long time of the ill conduct of the 
Senate towards him. M. and Madame Guizot, who 
were coming back from the south, saw him at Tarare, 
while he was changing horses. He fpoke to the 
persons standing around his carriage, as a sovereign, 
and asked them, among other things, whether they 
had suffered much in the last war. These all 
answered him by the unanimous cry of " Yive 
I'Empereur ! " At Salvagny, the last post before 
Lyons, he stopped for supper. Having finished, 
Napoleon left his Commissaries and walked alone up 
the road. He met the Cure, accosted him, and asked 
him whether the inhabitants of his Commune appeared 
satisfied with the change of Government. Then, 
pointing to the sky where the stars were shining, he 
added, that he had once known the names of all those 
constellations, but had since forgotten them, and 
begged the Cur^ to tell him how one, to which he 
pointed with his hand, and which seemed brighter 
than the others, was named. The good Cure having 
replied that he knew nothing about it, the Emperor 
bowed to him, smiling, and returned to the inn. 

The Emperor passed Lyons on the 23rd, at eleven 
in the evening. Some groups who assembled round 
his carriage, raised the cry of " Vive Napoleon ! " of 
which he took no notice. The next day, towards 
noon, he met Marsl^^l Augereau near Valence. 



MARSHAL AUGEREAU. 173 

Napoleon and the Marshal got out of their carriages 
at the same time. The Emperor held out his arms to 
Augereau, and they embraced each other. 

" Where are you coming from ? " said Napoleon 
to the Marshal, taking his arm familiarly, and using 
the familiar " tutoiement." "Are you going to 
Court?" Augereau replied that he was only going 
to Lyons ; and they walked along the road to Valence 
for a quarter of an hour. I know from an authentic 
source the result of this interview. Napoleon affec- 
tionately reproached the Marshal for his conduct 
towards him, and said in conclusion, *' Your proclama- 
tion is very stupid. Why do you abuse me ? — you 1 
my old companion ! You should simply have said, ' The 
will of the nation has been pronounced in favour of 
the new Sovereign ; the duty of the army is to conform 
to it. ViveleRoi!'"* 

Augereau then began to make some strong remarks 
upon his ambition, and his obstinacy in never listen- 
ing to the advice of anybody, declaring that to this 
obstinacy he had sacrificed everything — his com- 
panions in arms, his fortunes, and even the welfare 
of France. Napoleon, tired of all this, turned away 
rudely ; then, coming back to the Marshal, he pressed 
his hand, and said, " Adieu, Augereau. I am astonished 
that it should be you who thus reproach me. Come, 
however, embrace me again." Then he flung himself 
into his carriage. Augereau, with his hands behind 
• See " Pi^ce Justificative," No. 7. 



174 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

his back, stayed for some time in the same place, 
without even removing the forage-cap which he wore. 
The Emperor drove off, and, turning back in the 
carriage, waved him a last farewell with his hand. 
The Marshal resumed his seat in his carriage after 
having saluted the Commissaries. 

At a short distance from Avicrnon he chano-ed horses, 
and found several people assembled to see him pass 
by. He was received with cries of "Vive le Roi ! Vivent 
les Allies ! A bas Nicolat ! A bas le tyran ! A bas le 
gueux," etc. This multitude, pursuing him with foul 
invectives, ran after his carriage and clung to it, endea- 
vouring to see him so as to insult him more grossly. 
The Emperor was to some extent hidden from them by 
Bertrand, who stood up at one of the windows. He 
did not say a word. 

Having reached Saint-Canat, he stopped at a miser- 
able inn called La Calade, situated on the highroad. 
He sat down to table with Bertrand without utterino- 
a word, and, as he was unknown to the hostess, who 
thought they were merely members of the suite 
accompanying him, he entered into conversation with 
her. " Well," said the woman to him, " what about 
Bonaparte now ? What does he say ? Is it long since 
you left him ? " 

" No," replied the Emperor. 

"I am curious to see whether he will succeed in 
escaping," said she. "I am afraid the people want to 
massacre him, but we must acknowledge that he 



AT SAINT-CANAT. 175 

deserves it, the villain. But do tell me, are they 
ofoina: to embark him for his island ? " 

" I believe so." 

" They will drown them, won't they ? * 

" I hope so." 

The hostess having gone out, Napoleon turned to 
Bertrand, and took his arm. "You see, my friend," 
said he, " to what dangers I am exposed — and you ! " 

Bertrand replied only by tears, which he endea- 
voured to hide with his two hands. 

At Saint-Maximin, the Emperor breakfasted with 
the Commissaries wlio accompanied him. Hearing it 
said that the Sub-Prefect of Aix was in the place, he 
sent for him, and addressed him in these terms — 

" I came into the midst of you with perfect confi- 
dence, and I find here only madmen, who are threaten- 
ing my life. It seems to me that these Proven9aux 
are a foul race ; they committed all sorts of horrors 
and crimes in the Revolution, and they seem disposed 
to begin again. But when it is a question of fighting 
bravely, then they are — cowards ! Never did Provence 
furnish me with a single regiment upon which I could 
count. Can you not restrain this populace ? " 

The Sub-Prefect not knowing how to answer, or 
whether he ought to excuse himself before the foreign 
Commissaries, merely said, " I am quite confused. Sire." 

Napoleon then asked him whether the "droits 
r^unis " were already abolished, and whether a " levee 
en masse " would have been difficult to effect. 



176 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

" A ' lev^e en masse/ Sire ! " replied the Sub-Prefect. 
" I have never been able to get together half of the 
contingent which ought to be annually furnished for 
the conscription." 

Napoleon again expressed himself strongly respect- 
ing the Proven9aux, and then dismissed the Sub- 
Prefect. 

He afterwards related, that, eighteen years before, he 
had been sent into this province with several thousand 
men, to deliver some Royalists who were to have been 
hung for having worn the white cockade. " I saved 
them with a great deal of difficulty from the hands 
of these ruffians," said he, " and now they would per- 
petrate the very same outrages against any man 
among them who should not wear that very same 
cockade ! Ah ! — they are true Frenchmen ! " 

The following day they were to have arrived at 
Frejus. The escort's carriage, preceding that of the 
Emperor, reached the house of M. Charles,a former legis- 
lator, after dinner. His country seat is situated near 
the lake, and Princess Pauline Borghese, Napoleon's 
sister, had been staying there some months on account 
of her delicate health. She shuddered at the narra- 
tive of the dangers which her brother had incurred 
during his journey, which was given her by the Com- 
missaries; and from that moment she resolved to 
accompany him to the Island of Elba, and never more 
to leave him. It was with great difficulty that she could 
be made to believe in the events which had just taken 



napoleon's sister. 177 

place, and when at last it was impossible for her to 
refuse the evidence of their authenticity, she exclaimed, 
" If this be so, my brother is dead." They then assured 
her that the Emperor was well, that a handsome 
allowance was secured to him, and that he was on the 
way to his new destination. " How," said she, "has he 
been able to bear up under all this ? " She then 
fainted, and when she came to herself was much more 
ill than before. The interview which she had on 
that same day with her brother, still further injured 
her health. She started in the evening for Muy, so 
that she might have only two leagues to travel on the 
morrow. 

When the Emperor arrived at Fr^jus, some of the 
individuals who at Fontainebleau had seemed willing to 
partake his exile in the Island of Elba, forsook him. It 
was probably one of these persons who thought proper 
to appropriate the cash-box of his maitre d'hotel, whose 
business it was to defray the expenses of the journey, 
and who still had nearly sixty thousand francs in his 
possession. This robbery was committed during the 
night, on the 26th-27th. 

Colonel Campbell was at Frdjus, having arrived at 
Marseilles with an English frigate, the Undaunted. 
This vessel was commanded by Captain Asher, and 
was to escort the Emperor, in order to secure his ship 
from every sort of attack. According to the treaty. 
Napoleon was to have been taken to Elba in a corvette, 
and he was very much displeased to find only the brig 



178 NAPOLEON AND MABIE-LOUISE. 

Ulnconstanty which was to receive its dethroned 
sovereign and remain in his possession. After a 
moment's hesitation he preferred the English irigate, 
not choosing it to be said that he had been exiled 
under the French flag. 

That day the Emperor invited to dinner, not only all 
the Commissaries, but also the Captain of the English 
vessel. During dinner he complained to General 
Koller of the injustice of every sort with which he had 
been treated ; that he had been left only a shabby 
table-service in silver, and six dozens of shirts ; that 
all the rest of his linen and plate had been retained, as 
well as a quantity of things which he had bought 
with his own money. He was particularly indignant 
that his exclusive right to the " Regent," which he had 
redeemed from Berlin at a cost of four millions, had 
not been recognized. The great diamonds had, in fact, 
been placed in pawn by the French Government, for 
eight hundred thousand crowns, with the Berlin Jews. 
He begged the General to carry his complaint to his 
Emperor, and to the Emperor of Russia, hoping that by 
the aid of those Sovereigns justice would be done to him. 

On the morning of the 28th, Napoleon would have 
wished to embark with his suite, but he was not well, 
and he could not depart until nine o'clock in the even- 
ing. . General Schouvaloff went on board the frigate 
as if the Emperor were there already. He was charged 
for the last time to present his homage to the Emperoi 
Alexander. 



THE EMBARKATION. 179 

Austrian Hussars had accompanied him to Port 
Saint- Raphau, where he had landed fourteen years 
before on his return from Egypt. He was received 
with military honours and a salute of twenty-four 
guns. Two hours afterwards the frigate sailed. All 
the Commissaries accompanied the Emperor to the 
Island of Elba. 

His suite was composed of Generals Bertrand and 
Druot, the Polish Major Germanofsky, the paymaster, 
M. Peyroche; a doctor, M. Fourrau; two equerries; 
his maitre d'hotel, M. de Caulaincourt; one valet-de- 
chambre, M. Hubert; two cooks and six domestics, 
coachman, footman, and grooms. 

The Emperor was calm. General Bertrand could 
not conceal his emotion. General Druot maintained 
his courage and cheerfulness throughout these melan- 
choly circumstances. I was assured that Napoleon 
wished to give him a hundred thousand francs, but he 
distinctly refused to accept the present, saying, " Sire, 
if I accepted your money, my sincere affection to 
your Majesty would be attributed to interested 
motives. Keep it, however; we never know what 
may happen." 



180 NAPOLEON AND MAiiiE-LO UL>& 



CHAPTER XYIIL 

napoleon's ABBFVAL at the island of ELBA — DETAILS OP HIS TOTAQB 

— HIS EECEPTION — HIS DWELLING — DESCRIPTION OF HIS COURT — 
THE emperor's DAILY OCCUPATIONS — THE REAL MOTIVES OF THE 
emperor's RETURN TO FRANCE — HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLAND OP 
ELBA — HIS HOUSE. 

On the 3rd of May, 1814, at daybreak, the Un- 
daunted sighted the Island of Elba. General Druot 
and Colonel Klamm were sent ashore, the former in 
his capacity as the Emperor's Commissary, the second 
as charged by the French Government to require 
General Dalesmes, Governor of the island, to resign 
his command to General Druot, Napoleon's Pleni- 
potentiary. 

The two Deputies found the inhabitants of Elba in 
a state of complete anarchy. At Porto-Ferrajo the 
white flag was flying, at Porto-Longone the tri- colour. 
The rest of the island wished to proclaim its indepen- 
dence. When the news of the arrival of Napoleon 
was spread, and especially that of the treasure he was 
bringing with him, all parties united, and went to 
meet their new Sovereign. General Druot received 



PORTO-FERRAJO. 181 

the keys of the city from the Governor. AU the 
stores, the munition.^ of war, the fort and its artillery 
were handed over bo him without any difficulty. 
After this the new Imperial flag was hoisted on the 
tower of Porto-Ferrajo, and Colonel Klamm returned 
on board to report the issue of his mission to the 
Emperor.* 

At noon Napoleon set foot on shore,t and General 
Druot saluted him with one hundred guns fired from 
the forts. The Municipality and the State bodies, 
came to receive and address him. Napoleon replied, 
'' The mildness of your climate, the proximity of your 
island to France, have led me to choose it for my 
abode. I hope you will rightly appreciate this 
preference, and that you will love rae like dutiful 
children. You will always find me disposed to extend 
to you the solicitude of a father and of a good 
sovereign." 

The Emperor was conducted to the Hotel de Ville, 
where he was to be lodged provisionally. The great 
hall, which served for public meetings and balls, had 
been ornamented with some pictures and crystal can- 
delabra ; a sort of throne had been erected, and deco- 
rated in the same manner as the dais. The municipal 
band accompanied the Emperor to the Hotel de Ville, 
playing national airs so far from melodious, that 
Napoleon quicklj^ asked to be taken to his own room ; 

* See " Pieces Justificatives,'* Nos. 8, 9, and 10. 
t It is worthy of remark that on the same day, and almost at the 
same hour. Lonis XVIII. made his solemn entry into the capital 
13 



182 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

but, on entering it, he found it so miserably furnished, 
that he immediately arranged with General Roller to 
have his sister Eliza's furniture sent from Lucca and 
Piombino. The General wrote to the authorities of 
the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and they sent what was 
asked for, in a small vessel. 

This fact gave rise to a false report which was 
circulated at the time, that Napoleon had seized upon 
a vessel belonging to his brother-in-law, and confis- 
cated it, with its freight. 

During the crossing, Captain Asher had been sur- 
prised to discover how much nautical knowledge 
Napoleon possessed. The Emperor greatly admired 
the severe discipline maintained on board the Un- 
daunted. " I did all that I could," said the Emperor, 
to Captain Asher, "to introduce a similar discipline 
into the French navy, but without success. The 
chiefs always would jest with their inferiors, and 
allow the sailors to play at cards and dominoes." 
Napoleon made himself very agreeable to the crew by 
his frank kindliness and by frequent tokens of his 
pecuniary generosity. On one occasion, while the 
sailors were dining, he approached them and tasted 
the dry peas which they were eating. Finding them 
detestable, he immediately gave one hundred francs 
to the canteen for wine for the men, and said, 
laughing, " If they cannot eat to my health, at least 
they shall drink to it." 

Immediately after his arrival at the Island of Elba, 



NAPOLEON AT ELBA. 183 

the Emperor visited the fortifications, and expressed 
his satisfaction that, by means of the improvements 
which he contemplated making, he should be able to 
defend himself against every kind of attempt on the 
part of the inhabitants of the continent. 

General Roller remained ten days in the island, 
and completely gained the confidence of the Emperor, 
who consulted him in everything. 

On several occasions, during their journey from 
France, he had said, " Your Majesty is wrong." 
Napoleon, who was little accustomed to such frankness, 
answered him sharply, " You are always telling me 
that I am wrong. Would you speak like that to your 
own Emperor ? " The General assured him that his 
own Emperor would be very angry if he could 
suppose that he did not always speak his thoughts 
with candour. " In that case," replied Napoleon, 
''your master is much better served than I have ever 
been." 

The Emperor occupied himself incessantly and 
most actively. Sometimes he would visit the little 
isles in the vicinity of the Island of Elba. Pia- 
nosa, the chief, and the most remarkable of these, 
boasts of extraordinarily rich vegetation, romantic 
sites, and troops of wild horses. At other times 
he would ride all over the island from end to end. 
With the plans which he had formed, if he had had 
time and strength to execute them, the prosperity of 
the island would have been doubled. In order to 



184 NAPOLiiUN AND MAlUE-LUUlSt. 

gain the affection of the inhabitants, he had given 
sixty thousand f j an cs, shortly after his landing, for the 
making of roads, which had been projected for a long 
time, but never made for want of money. 

Early in June, the Emperor had taken possession of 
a house which was intended for the Commandant of 
Engineers. This building Avas then composed of two 
pavilions, united by a gallery, and is built upon a 
rock overlooking the town of Porto-Ferrajo. Some 
additions were made under his personal direction, 
and the modest habitation became the residence of 
him who had occupied by turns the palaces of all 
the potentates of Europe, and who had left furniture 
in his own palace to the value of over thirty to 
forty millions. Madame Mere and Princess Pauline 
soon arrived to inhabit a portion of the Emperor's 
house. He gave up to them the rooms which he had 
constructed between the two pavilions. Besides this 
residence, Napoleon had a kind of villa at Rio. He 
had also reserved for himself a mere lorlofinof in the 
Citadel of Porto-Longone, but he passed a part of each 
day in a closed kiosk erected upon the top of a rock. 
From thence he commanded the best perspective of 
the seas, and in the hazy distance the coasts of Tus- 
cany and the surrounding countries. Only Napoleon 
ever entered this pavilion, to which the people gave 
the name of La Gasa di Socrate. 

The four hundred men who had been allotted to 
the Emperor for his guard, by the treaty of the 11th 



THE emperor's GUARD. 185 

of April, set out for Pithiviers, two days before his 
departure from Fontainebleau. They came through 
Lyons, where the officers were invited to a magnificent 
dinner by several young men of that city. The dinner 
took place at the famous restaurant of the Brotteaux. 

They then crossed Mont Cenis, and, instead of 
going to Turin, repaired to Carmagnole and Savone. 
On their arrival at the latter port, General Cambronne 
sent an aviso to the Island of Elba, who arrived there 
in two days. The soldiery were embarked on four 
English vessels, and there were several days' delay 
before they sailed. Napoleon said that the interval 
which elapsed between the arrival of the aviso and 
that of the troopers was one of the most painful 
experiences of his life. The transports arrived on the 
26th of May. The carriages and the draught and 
cavalry horses were all disembarked on the 27th 
without the slightest accident, by English sailors. 
Napoleon, who was on the spot, was greatly astonished 
at the way in which this was done. " Frenchmen," 
said he, " would have taken at least four days to do 
the same amount of work; all the vehicles would 
have been broken, and half the horses would have 
been lamed," 

Some days after, Captain Asher left the Island 
of Elba. The Emperor, when he came to take leave, 
presented him with a gold snuff-box, in which his 
portrait, surrounded by twenty large diamonds, each 
of the value of 4500 francs, was set. I have been 



186 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE. 

assured that Captain Asher refused 110,000 francs for 

this snuff-box. 

The Emperor led a very active life at Elba. He 
always rose before daybreak, and devoted the early 
hours of the morning to work. Then came the review 
of his troops. This was not limited, as at the Carrousel, 
to a glance cast cursorily upon numerous corps. It 
was a minute inspection, and the military soul of 
Napoleon enjoyed it in all its details. Each grena- 
dier was questioned as to his occupations, his 
habits, his health, and even his sentiments. The 
brave soldiers of the Isle of Elba sometimes had com- 
plaints to make. The Emperor gave them or promised 
them what they asked for, if the desired object was 
in his power ; if not, he called them grumblers, pulled 
their moustachios, and walked away smiling. 

In the evening. Napoleon went out riding, accom- 
panied by his principal officers. Sometimes he 
received visits from foreigners of distinction, who came 
to the island in great numbers, merely to see him. 
Oftener stiU, he made fun with his staff of the abuse 
which was showered upon him by the French news- 
papers, which had flattered him before his fall, with 
the most shameless servility. 

Thus were the days of the Emperor passed. Now 
at Porto-Ferrajo, now at Porto-Longone, or at Rio. 

His Guard, after the fashion of the Roman warriors, 
helped in the greater part of the public works which 
he had set going in the island, and was daily 



DEVOTION TO THE EMPEROB. 187 

augmented by soldiers whose devotion to him led 
them to join him. Napoleon could hardly maintain 
this faithful battalion, nevertheless it grew and grew. 
Some superior officers came to take service in it like 
mere soldiers. 

The abdication of Napoleon had been the result of 
a treaty whose conditions were guaranteed by the 
Allied Powers. Amongst other things, France was to 
pay him an annual sum which had been defined. This 
was never done. He learnt at the Island of Elba that 
a project was being formed at Vienna to send him to 
a distance from the coasts of France. It is said that 
Talleyrand had represented his residence near the 
coast as a source of constant disquietude, calculated to 
inspire alarm, and embolden malcontents ; and that he 
ought to be placed at such a distance as to deprive 
him of all hope of return. Add to his fear of this 
being done, that he was without money — the little 
that he had, proceeded from the sale of his mother s 
diamonds, — and that, having claimed the execution of 
the treaty, no answer was vouchsafed to him. Napoleon 
made this breach of faith one of the pretexts for his 
return. The true motive was necessity, and the 
certainty of his being able to rally round him, by 
showing himself, a considerable party belonging to 
the military, to the purchasers of the national goods, 
whose apprehensions concerning the security of their 
acquisitions had already been most foolishly excited, 
and all of those whose republican or revolutionary 



188 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

principles rendered them inimical to the Bourbons. 
He did not need either fighting troops or arms for 
this enterprise. He needed only his person and his 
fortune, which at first seemed to be about once more 
to favour him. 

FoUowed by eleven hundred men, whom he was 
only enabled to pay by the aid of his mother, we all 
know that he crossed France like a king re-entering 
his States after an absence ; that he had not to 
burn a fuse ; and that, up to the very moment of his 
departure, not a soul but General Druot knew any- 
thing of his project. All the other persons learned it 
at the moment of its execution. Napoleon himself 
had not thought of it eight days previously ; but the 
private intimation which he received from Vienna, 
that the question of transferring him to St. Helena 
had been discussed at the Congress of Vienna, deter- 
mined him to attempt this hazardous enterprise. I 
have it from a man whose veracity cannot be doubted, 
that, immediately after the departure of Napoleon 
from the Island of Elba, some English travellers, who 
happened to be there, visited the habitation which 
had served him as a palace. They found his bedroom 
his cabinet, and his library in the same state in which 
he had left them. The old woman, of Corsican origin, 
who was the portress, was in the greatest anxiety, 
not lor herself, but for the safety and success of the 
enterprise which her master had just undertaken. 
The sincere attachment to him which she manifested, 



THE FLIGHT FROM ELBA. 189 

all that she said, all that she related of the kindness 
and gentleness which were habitual to him, afforded 
the strongest refutation of the monstrous stories of 
his private conduct, which were some time afterwards 
given to the world. These travellers found a bath 
still full of water, in the room next to Napoleon's bed- 
room, which proved that he had taken a bath as usual, 
on the very morning of his departure, or at least the 
night before. In his library, pieces of manuscript 
paper, torn-up letters, and notes made in pencil, and 
consequently not to be deciphered, were found lying 
about in disorder. On the table was a map of France, 
into which pins with large heads were stuck ; and on 
a small table, placed at the head of his bed, lay an 
open volume of the History of Charles V., which he 
had probably been reading on the eve of the day of 
his embarkation. 



190 NAPOLEON AND M ABIE-LOUIS^ 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE HUNDRED DAYS. 

NAP0LW)lff*8 RETURN TO FRANCE — HIS ARRIVAL AT PARIS — POUCHfe — THl 
CHAMP DE MAI — OPENING OP THE CAMPAIGN OP 1815 — THE BATTLF 
OF LIGNY — WATERLOO — GENERAL ORNANO — NAPOLEON AT THE 
ELYSEE — LUCIEN — THE CHAMBERS — THE SECOND ABDICATION OP 
THE EMPEROR — A PLOT — THE LAST SOJOURN AT MALMAISON — 
napoleon's PROJECTS — HIS DEPARTURE FOR ROCHEFORT — HIS 
EXILE AT ST. HELENA — JOSEPH — PRLNUESS PAULINE — QUEEN HOR- 
TEXSB. 

So little was Napoleon's return to France foreseen, 
that those who ought to have opposed it, taken 
unawares, had neither courage nor presence of mind. 
They abandoned the positions which had been 
entrusted to them, and left the field open to the 
Napoleonists and to the malcontents who swelled the 
escort with which the Emperor arrived at Paris. 
Seated for the second time, without any shock or 
commotion, upon a throne which he regarded as his 
own property, Napoleon committed the unpardonable 
fault of recalling the base flatterers whose vileness he 
ought then to have known well ; or, rather, he had not 
the trouble of recalling them — they all came round 



THE HUNDRED DAYS. 191 

him, and endeavoured by dint of fresh adulation to 
induce him to forgive their conduct at the time of 
his first abdication and his departure for the Island of 
Elba. 

It was thought that Napoleon would make great 
concessions to those who were then called the " Inde- 
pendents," in order to conciliate them. They boasted 
of this, talked of the change of organization in the 
Chamber of Deputies, of the suspension of hereditary 
nobility, etc. Heads were turned by these ideas ; 
liberty was talked of; and it was supposed that all 
these things were meant by the Champ de Mai. It 
took place. The Emperor's speech and the additional 
articles occasioned a general ferment. From that 
moment the sincere friends of Napoleon plainly fore- 
saw that he was lost. Public opinion asserted itself. 
Notwithstanding the police, people talked, complained, 
and openly protested. Royalists and Independents 
joined togethsr against him. 

It is very likely that if Napoleon had known 
the state of things he would have made sacrifices 
to conciliate the public, but all those who sur- 
rounded him hid the truth from him, and paid spies 
of Fouche played a great part in this intrigue. 
It is a little-known fact that Savary, having learned 
a great deal that was very disquieting concerning 
Fouche, desired to impart it to Napoleon ; but the latter 
made light of his revelations, which he attributed to 
Savary's jealousy at seeing Fouch6 in his place. 



192 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

Savary was then in a kind of disgrace ; the Emperor 
would not allow him to follow him at Waterloo, and 
showed him that he trusted him but little. The Duke 
had made the mistake of not going with his master to 
the Island of Elba, as he ought to have done ; but 
he afterwards paid so dearly for his fault, that few 
persons will have the courage to reproach him with it. 
Napoleon greatly desired peace, which he had so 
often refused, but he could not obtain it. All the 
Sovereigns feared him, and they united to re-esta- 
blish Louis XVIII. The foreign armies received 
orders to march back towards the frontiers of France. 
Napoleon believed that his father-in-law would 
support him ; he was ignorant of the intrigues by 
which Marie-Louise was surrounded, and hoped for 
her return. Persons who had come from Vienna did 
not dare to tell him the truth. M. de Menneval, who 
was so devoted and so faithful, was the only one who 
informed him that the Austrian Cabinet would oppose 
the return of the Empress, and even he did not dare 
to tell him to what she had pledged herself. The 
Empress, restrained by her plighted word, and deplor- 
ing the weakness which had prevented her from 
following her husband to Elba, passed days and 
nights in grief. The Emperor, who had expected her, 
went on nevertheless with his war preparations ; but 
he perceived, immediately on his arrival at Charleroi, 
that he no longer inspired nis army or his generals 
with their former enthusiasm. The generals received 



THE HUNDRED DAYS. 193 

him coldly, with discontent, and seemed to march 
with reluctance ; his Guard only, proved their devotion 
to him up to the last day. They sacrificed themselves 
for him, and enabled him to gain Paris, whither he 
went to place himself in the hands of his enemies. 

Fortune having betrayed him in the field of 
Waterloo, Napoleon betrayed himself by abandoning 
his army. He might have rallied this army into a force 
all the more formidable that Marshal Gouchy's corps 
had not been touched. Nevertheless, the Parisians 
broke out into demonstrations of the greatest joy on 
the reception of the news that the French had gained 
a decisive battle at Ligny, under Fleurus, although no 
official details were received, and on the 19th of June 
a hundred and one guns were fired at the Invalides 
to announce this glorious intelligence. No bulletin 
arrived on that day, a circumstance which attracted 
no attention in the midst of the general joy ; but when 
none appeared on the morrow, every one began to 
wonder and doubt, and there was visible disturbance 
in the places of public assembly. On the morning of 
the 21st, it was known that no news had arrived 
during the night, but at eleven o'clock a despatch 
from the Elysde-Bourbon gave rise to a rumour which 
converted the general alarm into joy. It was said 
that the Empress Marie-Louise had returned. One 
of my friends told me, on bringing me the news, that 
she had just made a visit to General Ornano, Napoleon's 
cousin, who was confined to bed by a wound which h^ 



194 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

had received in a duel. She asked him if he knew 

the good news. 

" Good news ? ** he replied. 

" Yes, they say that the Empress has come back." 

" The Empress ! " he said, shaking his head, anl 
showing her a little note he had just received; "you 
mean the Emperor ? for all is over" 

An hour after my friend left the General, the news 
of the return of the Emperor was spread throughout 
the whole of the capital.* 

Napoleon, on arriving at the capital, went at once 
to his brother Lucien, before entering the Palace of 
the Elys^e. Lucien was for a moment overwhelmed 
by the narrative of the catastrophe, but, speedily 
regaining his presence of mind, he proposed to con- 
tend with events, disapproved his brother's having 
abandoned the army, advised him not to show himself 
in Paris, but to return in all haste and rally the 
remnant of his troops, and said to him with warmth, 
" You throw up the cards before the game is lost." In 
fact, it appeared to him to be still possible to unite the 
remains of the army of the North with that of the 

* Authentic news of tlie fatal battle reached Paris about two 
hours before the return of Napoleon, and immediately on his arrival 

there was an assembly at M. de C 's. The importance of forcing 

Napoleon to abdicate was being discussed, wlien, in tlie middle of the 
deliberations, a person entered the hall, and announced that the 

Emperor had returned. In a moment M. de C was left alone 

in his salon. The disputants were dispersed like bubbles on the 
surface of the water, or, rather, like frogs when a stone is thrown 
into the midst of them. — Communicated note. 



BOLD COUNSELS. 196 

Rhine, which was not yet engaged, and to oppose the 
imminent invasion with a new army, recruited by the 
Federates, and the National Guards of the various 
Departments of France. 

But Napoleon already seemed incapable of taking 
any strong resolution, and a powerful party was about 
to prevail over that of his adherents on the spot. On 
entering the Elys^e, Napoleon sent for the Minister 
of War, who found him in his bath and eating a 
plate of soup. Napoleon saluted him, and said : " I 
must have thirty thousand men and money." The 
Marshal's response not being satisfactory, the Emperor 
ordered the assembly of the Council. He had brought 
into Belgium twenty-six millions of francs, proceeding 
in part from his private purse, desiring to open the 
campaign magnificently, and to pay for everything 
that he required. Everything was seized by the 
Prussians, even to the Imperial carriages, the Corona- 
tion carriage included ; this had been brought up from 
Chambord, where it had been stored, I really don't 
know why. 

Lucien still endeavoured to calm and reassure all 
m the Council of Ministers, which had been imme- 
diately convoked, and among the most prominent 
persons of the two Chambers. "This," said he, "is 
only the loss of a battle. Thirty thousand men hors 
de cvrahac wiU not decide the destiny of France." 

But fear had airetudy ta^en possession of the 
hearts of the men of the 20th of March. Yarnly 



196 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

did Lucien endeavour to revive their former courage. 
To some he pointed out the dangers of a cowardly- 
desertion, to others he recalled what they had pro- 
mised the Emperor eight days before he entered 
on the campaign. " Eeverses," he added, " will not 
weaken our courage; they will but redouble our 
attachment to our Sovereign." 

The question of dissolving the two Chambers 
was mooted in a private Council, but the firm and 
imposing attitude assumed by the Chamber of De- 
puties, secretly directed by Fouch^, rendered all 
chance of success improbable. Recourse was then had 
to negotiations. The Ministers retained at the Palace 
of the Elys^e, having received a second message 
which summoned them to repair to the Chamber, 
were authorized to do so by Napoleon. Lucien 
accompanied them in the character of Imperial Com- 
missary, and required in his brother's name that 
the sitting should be formed into a private committee 
to receive important communications. The public 
immediately vacated the tribunes, and, the sitting 
having become private, Lucien read a message from 
his brother, containing a studied recital of the disaster 
which had just overwhelmed the army at Waterloo, 
without concealing its consequences. The Emperor 
recommended concert to the representatives, and 
announced the formation of a Commission composed 
of Carnot, Fouch^, and Caulaincourt^ to treat for peace 
with the Coalition. 



OPEN REVOLT. 



197 



The assembly kept a solemn silence for some 
minutes, but it was broken by the Deputy Henri 
Lacoste, who, measuring the depth of the ruin 
which Napoleon had brought upon France, said to 
the Assembly that only peace and energy could 
avail to save the country. Lucien, resuming his 
speech, endeavoured to justify his brother by trying 
to diminish the extent of the disaster, and represented 
that France was able to repair it. "The Emperor 
has several armies on foot," added he, "and all is 
not lost." A general murmur apprised him that the 
Assembly did not share his confidence. Then he 
employed all the resources of the art of oratory. 
He invoked the public generosity, and the respect 
due to men's oaths ; he terminated his discourse by 
repeating the reproach of levity, so often addressed 
to the French nation. At these words, the indigna- 
tion of the Assembly broke out. M. de la Fayette 
rushed into the tribune, and testified his astonishment 
that any one should dare thus to accuse the nation 
of levity. Addressing himself to Lucien as much 
by his gestures as by his words, he said, after a 
very animated speech : " Inform your brother that the 
nation will no longer have confidence in him ; that 
we ourselves will undertake the salvation of the 
country, which he has delivered up to the wrath of 
Europe." Other orators indicated the same remedy. 
The Assembly having decided upon taking measures 
f-ar the public safety on that night, Lucien and the 



14 



198 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Ministers retired. In fact, notwithstanding the stead- 
fastness of his friends, and even that of the patriots in 
the two Chambers, Napoleon was none the less forced 
to abdicate. That sacrifice was far from being volun- 
tary on his part, as it has been said to be. 

After the notification of his abdication to the 
Chambers, on Friday, the 23rd of February, on which 
day it was posted up in the capital, the emissaries of 
the police discovered an organized plot to seize upon 
the arsenals, arm the faubourgs, march to the Elysee 
and re-establish the Imperial throne. The vigilance 
of Fouch^ prevented the execution of this plan. All 
the National Guard of Paris were under arms in the 
evening, and so remained during the whole of the 
night. No attempt at arrest was made, until a cannon, 
fired close to the Barriere du Trone, had given the 
signal of the conspiracy, and had revealed the chiefs 
who advanced first to the place of rendezvous. They 
were all taken, and nearly two hundred individuals 
also arrested. 

On the 24th of June, Napoleon retired to Mai- 
maison, the cradle of his greatness. He had neglected 
this dwelling, which recalled painful recollections to 
him, especially since the death of Josephine. Its 
melancholy salons received him again when he was 
despoiled of his crown, but he came only to bid them 
an eternal adieu. 

The Emperor was not so much regretted by the 
Government and the Chambers as might have been 



napoleon's plans. 199 

supposed. Not only did they make no provision 
for him, but they even threatened Count Mollien, 
Minister of the Treasury, to have him brought to 
trial, for having disbursed certain sums for the 
private use of Napoleon. Since then, the Minister 
has declared that he did not give him a single 
franc, but he had already candidly acknowledged 
that he regretted to have been unable to succour the 
fallen Emperor in his great misfortune. 

The first idea of Napoleon after his fall had been 
to retire to England, and this project may be regarded 
as a spontaneous homage rendered to the English 
nation, which he did not love, it is true, perhaps 
because he was forced to esteem it, but to which he 
believed he ought to do justice. He afterwards 
lent an ear to the proposition made to him that 
he should go to the United States of America. 
A number of American captains, who were then at 
Paris, oflfered him free ships; but Napoleon rejected 
everything which would have lent the appearance 
of flight to his departure. Being forced, however, to 
take a resolution, he decided in favour of the United 
States, and declared he was ready to leave France 
with his family for that destination. The Commission 
of the Provisional Government seemed to lend itself 
to the execution of this resolution. The Minister of 
Marine received orders to have two frigates ready 
to be placed at the disposal of Napoleon as he 
might require. Fouch6 knew that all this meani 



200 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

nothing. He was aware that a safe-conduct would 
have to be asked from Lord Wellington, and that 
it would not be granted. The Emperor was already 
the prisoner of England. 

During this time the Austrians, the Russians, and 
the Prussians had, for the second time, arrived under 
the walls of Paris. The Emperor might be carried 
off from Malmaison. All was alarm around him. 
The few friends who remained to him in treated him 
to think of his safety. On the 29th of June the 
Commission of the Provisional Government, in its turn, 
hastened Napoleon's departure, and on the same day, 
at five o'clock in the evening, he left Malmaison. His 
suite was composed of Bertrand, Montholon, Gourgand, 
Savary, Lallemend, Las Cases, Planat, and Resigny. 
The Countess Bertrand accompanied her husband ; M. 
Montholon also shared the hazardous destiny of hers. 

The Emperor slept at Rochefort, where a courier 
was sent to him on the 30th, at daybreak. He 
opened the despatches which were handed to him, 
with emotion, and exclaimed after having read 
them, " It is all over ; France is done for. Let us go." 
Napoleon paused no more untU he reached Rochefort, 
where it was notified to him that he was to be exiled 
to the Rock of St. Helena. The rest is known. 

Joseph, better advised, had profited by the offer 
of the American captains to take him to Boston. He 
arrived there without any difficulty. 

On the 30th of June, Queen Hortense received an 



MEAN MEASUHES. tOl 

order, rudely worded, and signed " Mouffling, Governor 
of Paris," to quit the capital within twenty-four hours 
and to leave the Kingdom of France with the utmost 
dispatch. 

Lucien, who was convinced that Napoleon would 
not even escape from the Allies if he did not make up 
his mind to take refuge beyond the seas, had declared 
his own intention of retiring to the United States, 
whither all his family would have followed him. 
This resolution having been definitely arrived at 
between them, at the end of June, as I have said 
above, Lucien repaired to Neuilly to his sister Pauline's 
country house, and wrote a letter to apprise her of the 
new plans which had been formed between him and his 
brother.* 

Each day the danger of the Imperial family became 
more imminent. Severe measures were taken by the 
Provisional Government against most of its members, 

and edicts of banishment, signed by M. de T , 

had been notified to several former associates or 
colleagues of Napoleon. The moment had arrived 
when Lucien had to think of his safety. Under the 
name of Count de Ghatillon, he took the road to 
Bordeaux, while the negotiations were going on with 
the Allied generals. He reached that post and hired 
a packet-boat, but, just as he was about to embark, he 
received intelligence of the fresh measures wliich had 
been taken against his brother, and of Napoleon's 
* See "Pieces Justificatives," Nos. 11 and 12. 



20^ NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISK. 

departure for Rochefort. This news made him 
suddenly change his resolution ; for he was about to 
risk passing through England with the intention of 
obtaining the safe-conduct from the British Govern- 
ment which would be necessary to enable him to land 
in the United States. It will readily be supposed that 
he abandoned his intention 



( 203 ) 



CHAPTER XX. 

SOME FEATURES OF NAPOLEON's CHARACTER; VARIOUS 
ANECDOTES OF HIS LIFE, AND PARTICULARS RE- 
LATING TO THE PERSONS WHO FORMED THE 
IMPERIAL COURT. 

THE GAME OF " BARS " — ^M. DE OAULATNCOURT — ^THE HOT PASTY — 
M. DB MENNEVAL — THE ETIQUETTE OF THE COURT OP THE 
TUILERIES — M. BARRIER — THE "MATERNAL SOCIETY"' — M. TER- 
NAUX — THE OLD AND THE NEW NOBTLITY — THE DUKE OF PLA- 
CENZA AND COUNT CHAPTAL — THE "GRAND SERVICE" AND THE 
"PETIT service" — THE PASTIMES OP MARIE -LOUISE — THE 

•* PETTTES ENTREES " — MESDAMES DE ROVIGO AND DE BOUILLE 

H. DE SAINT-AIGNAN — THE WHIP-STROKE AND THE SWORD-CUT— 
THE BILLIARD-ROOM — THE EMPRESS'S ALBUM — COUNT DB LAOEPEIDE 
— THE DUCHESS OF WEI3IAR — MADAME BERTRAND. 

I HAVE now only to add a few touches which will 
serve to complete the portrait of Napoleon in his 
private life. This was an aspect under which he was 
little known, and has never been painted in true 
colours. The same remark applies to the principal 
personages of his family, and in general to all those 
individuals who combined in lending that brilliancy 
and splendour to the Imperial Court of which nothing 
but the memory now remains. 

While he was as yet only First Consul. Napoleon 



204 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

frequently received writers, savants, and artists at 
his table. In the country he played at various games 
with them, especially at " Bars," a youthful pastime 
which he continued to enjoy, doubtless because it is 
an image of war. After he had been invested with 
the Imperial dignity, he considered that decorum 
forbade him to- continue to act thus, and he limited 
himself to riding on horseback, which he liked very 
much, althouQfh he had several falls. One of these 
occurred one day at Trianon, when he was amusing 
himself by pursuing the Empress through the wind- 
ings of a shrubbery.' He j umped up at once, got into 
the saddle, laughing merrily, and rode off crying, 
" Casse-cou ! " 

I have seen him play at Bars after his marriage 
with Marie-Louise, and although he had already 
grown very stout, he still ran lightly. One day, when 
the Court was at Rambouillet, there was a great game 
of Bars, in which the Emperor fell twice, without 
hurtino- himself. He darted forward to seize his 
adversary, the Grand Marshal, who always slipped 
away from him, so that the Emperor was twice over 
sent rolling on the sand. He jumped up without a 
word, and went on with the game more gaily than 
before. 

He liked luxury and magnificence on all public 
occasions ; but he desired that strict economy should 
be maintained in his own house. Once, when on the 



NAPOLEON'S ECONOMY. 2205 

way to Compiegne the horses were going more slowly 
than he liked, he let down the glass of the carriage, 
and called to the outrider in attendance, "Faster, 
faster ! " M. de Gaulaincourt, who, as Grand Equerry, 
preceded him in another carriage, heard this order, 
and, putting his head out of the window, shouted 
to the postillions, with an oath, that he would dis- 
charge them all if the pace was changed. The horses 
continued accordingly to go at a trot. On arriving 
at Compiegne, the Emperor complained of the slowness 
of the journey. 

" Sire," answered M. de Gaulaincourt, coolly, " give 
me more money for your stable expenses, and you 
may kill as many horses as you please." 

Napoleon changed the conversation. 

One day, when at breakfast with the Empress, he 
asked one of the first ladies who was in attendance 
what might be the cost of a hot pasty which was 
on the table. 

" Twelve francs to your Majesty," she answered 
smiling, '* and six francs to a bourgeois of Paris." 

" That is to say that I am robbed ! " exclaimed 
Napoleon. 

" No, Sire ; but it is the custom for a king to pay 
dearer than his subjects." 

"That is just what I don't understand," said he, 
''and I mean to take order about it" 

As a matter of fact, he entered into small details 



206 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

of household economy which are often neglecfced by 
private individuals. 

The same orderliness prevailed in the Empress's 
affairs. Each month the Countess de Lu9ay presented 
to her a statement of the expenditure of the preceding 
month ; she signed it, and it was handed to M. de 
Ballouhai, Secretary of Expenses, whose duty it was 
to pay them. He had held the same office in the house- 
hold of the Empress Josephine, and the Emperor, 
after his marriage with Marie-Louise, retained him in 
that capacity, as a reward for his perfect probity, 
his exactitude, and his attachment. M. de Ballouhai 
afterwards accompanied the Empress to Parma, where 
he received the most touching proofs of confidence 
and regard from her. The state of his health has 
since obliged him to return to Paris. 

Napoleon's handwriting was always very bad, and 
latterly it was quite illegible. Only the secretaries 
who were accustomed to it could decipher it. In his 
signature it was impossible to distinguish anything 
beyond the three first letters, the rest was a random 
scrawl. Nothinoj could be more fatif^uinor than the 
post of First Secretary to Napoleon, which was filled 
by M. de Menneval for ten years. The Emperor then 
made him Secretary of Commands to Marie-Louise, 
and said to her, in presenting him, that M. de Menneval 
was the most estimable and the discreetest man he 
had ever known, but that he had worn him out with 
overwork. As a matter of fact, no night ever passed 



napoleon's habits. 207 

without his sending for M. de Menneval to dictate 
something to him, and he was frequently called several 
times in the same night. 

He subsequently proved that he deserved the high 
esteem with which the Emperor honoured him. He 
was placed in a difficult position at Blois and at 
Orleans, for he was a witness of the intrigues with 
which the Empress was surrounded, and he ventured, 
without overstepping the bounds of respect, to lift up 
the voice of truth. He never shrank from obeying 
the suggestions of duty and affections. M. Fain, 
who had been for a long time in the Emperor's service 
as a secretary, took the place of M. de Menneval, and 
displayed attachment and fidelity to the Emperor 
which will do him immortal honour. 

The physical organization of the Emperor was very 
remarkable. He had the faculty of sleeping at will, 
and this it was which enabled him to bear nia^ht-work 
so easily. He generally went to bed at ten, rose 
between one and two, worked until five or six, took 
his bath, was dressed, received several persons, break- 
fasted at ten, then worked again until noon, when he 
would come to his wife's apartment, or go out walking ; 
but when business was urgent, he would stay at it 
until evening. During the day he would come down to 
see the Empress several times, and they would visit their 
buii together. If Napoleon had a little time to himself, 
attei ne tiaa kissed his wife and played with his child, 
lio vvoalii seat himself in an arm-chair, and, while still 



208 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

talking, go fast asleep, waking only when he was told 
that some one or something was waiting for him. 

He dined every day between seven and eight 
o'clock, alone with Marie-Louise. On Sundays there 
was a family dinner. Such was the etiquette of the 
Tuileries, from which there was no departure except 
in the case of Madame Lannes or Madame de Lu^ay, 
either of whom occasionally made a third at their 
Majesties' table. 

On their short journeys, Napoleon every day 
invited three or four ladies, and as many men, but 
that honour was confined to certain persons. 

When a petition was presented to him, he handed 
it to an aide-de-camp, or put it in his pocket. The 
latter meant that he would have it looked into. 
When he put the petition into his left pocket, which 
was called in the palace his " good " one, it was a sure 
sign that he was disposed to grant what was asked of 
him, even without the form of examination. 

The Emperor had peculiar ideas and expressions 
of his own. One day, when he was talking with the 
Empress about some persons of whose conduct he did 
not approve, he said : " Chastity in a woman is what 
courage is in a man. I despise a coward and a 
woman without modesty ! " 

Talking of Corvisart, the Emperor said he was an 
egoist ; that he had entrails but not " bowels." 

The Empress protested against this, and said every- 
body was selfish, that sne hersell wa» selrish. 



UNGROUNDED FEAKS. 209 

"Don't say, my Louise," said Napoleon gravely, 
" that you are selfish ; I know no more hideous vice." 

Among the absurd stories circulated about the 
Emperor, those which imputed unbounded and revolt- 
ing profligacy to him were most widely believed. I am 
about to cite two facts which will prove how much 
credit these inventions deserved. 

The Emperor was very reserved with the ladies of 
the household, most of whom were of a staid age. 
Among the younger ladies, there was one who had 
some personal attractions, and whose head was filled 
with all the tales to which I have just alluded, so that 
her virtue was in a continual state of alarm. She 
meditated day and night upon her means of defence, 
prepared her speeches, and was resolutely determined 
to resist every kind of seduction, all sentiment, and 
even violence. With each day she expected the 
advent of the moment at which she would have to 
summon up all her resources ; she hardly dared to 
sleep; at length she made up her mind to impart 
her fears to one of her companions. This lady, who 
understood the true state of affairs, begged her to calm 
herself, and to wait for the attack before troubling her- 
self about the defence. As a matter of fact, the 
Emperor took no notice either of her or of the others, 
and she soon learned to 1 augh at her own terrors. 

Napoleon was always angry when he saw novels 
being read. They were hidden when notice of his 
coming was given, but he frequently took the Empress's 



210 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

readers by surprise. He had ordered his librarian, M. 
Barbier, to make a selection of books, and to send them 
to Marie-Louise. M. Barbier, who was rather a man 
of letters than a strict censor, included in his choice 
the Satires of Juvenal. The Emperor arrived just as 
we had received the books ; he saw the Juvenal, and 
scolded vehemently about it, saying that young women 
had no business with such a book. He then informed 
us that, for the future, every book should pass through 
his cabinet ; and, sending for his librarian, he lectured 
him severely. 

I have been told by Madame Walewska, who 
honoured me with the title of her friend, and whom 
Napoleon always highly esteemed, that she breakfasted 
with him at Malmaison on the day before his departure 
for Rochefort, and that he was perfectly easy in his 
mind, even cheerful, and played for half an hour with 
her son, the little Alexander, with all his usual 
affection. 

The Emperor was very fond of children. The pages 
looked upon him as a kind father, rather than an 
absolute master. He used the "tutoiement" towards 
them all, and called them by their Christian names. He 
had pet names for his particular favourites among them. 

No one knew better than Napoleon what it was 
to be restricted in means. During the latter part oi 
his sojourn at Elba, his Master of the Palace was 
obliged to cut down his table expenditure, by sub- 
stituting the wine of the country for his Chambertin 



napoleon's philosophy. 211 

and his favourite Bordeaux. He consented willingly, 
and even laughingly, to this exercise of economy. 

Officers of every nationality, who had served under 
him, came to his rocky realm, and were so earnestly 
desirous of being taken once more into his service, 
that, when he met them with the objection of the 
smallness of his means, some of them were content to 
receive from twenty to thirty-five sous a day, rather 
as a pledge of his esteem than as a recompense for their 
attachment. It is well known that, at St. Helena, 
he required to put in practice all the philosophy 
with which a man could be endowed by nature and 
experience; but even before his departure he had 
already regained entire tranquility at Malmaison, 
while his fate was still in uncertainty. At Elba, he 
invited Madame Bertrand's young family to dine with 
him almost every Sunday; and he seldom let her 
children leave him without making them some present, 
either of money or sweets, which he would put into 
his pockets for this express purpose. I do not think 
that such sentiments are incompatible with the out- 
ward appearance of indifference, and all the demonstra- 
tions of cold-heartedness, when the situation was such 
that it not only justified indifference, but even lent it 
an air of heroism. 

Napoleon was deeply afiected when he bade adieu to 
his mother and sister, on leaving the Island of Elba ; so 
much so, that he said, " I must go now, or I shall never 
go." 



212 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

In addition to what I have already said of Napoleon, 
I must relate a few anecdotes, and also give a denial 
to certain others which are entirely unfounded. 

The following story gained extensive currency. 
It was said that the Emperor, in talking with Marie- 
Louise, complained of the Empress of Austria, and 
of the Archdukes, and that, after having expressed 
his displeasure with them, he added, "As for your 
father, I have nothing to say about him : he is a 
blockhead {ganache)!' The Empress did not under- 
stand this word, and no sooner had Napoleon with- 
drawn than she asked the ladies who were with her 
what it meant. None of them . ventured to tell 
her its true meaning, but one said that the word 
ganache signified a grave person, one of weight. 
The Empress forgot neither the expression nor the 
definition, and applied the word, some time after- 
wards, in a very amusing way, when she was 
acting as Regent of the French Empire. One day, 
while an important question was under discussion 
at the Council, she remarked that Cambaceres had 
not yet spoken. Turning towards him, she said — 

" I should like to know your opinion on this 
subject, because I know that you are a ganache." 

Cambaceres, on receiving this compliment, could 
only look at her with astonishment and confusion, 
repeating in an undertone the word " ganache ! " 

** Yes," said she, " a ganache, a cool-headed man, a 
man with sound sense. Is not that what it means ? " 



FALSE ASD FOOLISH STORIEa 213 

Nobody enlightened her, and the discussion was 
continued. 

Of course it will be perceived at once that this 
anecdote is absolutely false. It is neither true nor 
likely. I have said elsewhere that Marie-Louise 
spoke and wrote French as well as the best-educated 
Parisian. I will add now, that I am quite sure 
Napoleon never used so slighting an expression in 
speaking of his father-in-law, with whom he had 
been very friendly for a long time. Besides, when- 
ever he made any jests upon the house of Austria, 
Marie-Louise defended it with warmth. One day, 
for instance, when Napoleon was talking to his wife 
about the plans of the Emperor of Austria, for seizing 
upon certain towns which he wanted, he said : 

" You see plainly that your father is a robber, and 
that he appropriates what does not belong to him." 

" That is true," she replied : " but you steal 
kingdoms ; rdy father takes only a few towns." 

Napoleon laughed heartily at this answer, and 
asked the persons present whether a woman, who 
ought to respect her husband, had any right to call 
him a robber. 

The Emperor, who was anxious to make Marie- 
Louise popular with the people, instituted the Soci6t^ 
Maternelle, of which he made her president. Madame 
de Segur was nominated vice-president ; other ladies 
joined the Society. The object of the institution 
was to give aid to mothers of poor families having 

15 



214 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOXJISE. 

several children. They were attended in their con 
finements ; provided with soup, wine, and clothes for 
their infants; and lastly, when they had several 
children, they were paid for nursing the latest born 
like ordinary nurses. Madame de S^gur filled her post 
in this institution with the kindness of heart, zeal, 
and intelligence which distinguished her, and she was 
the support and consolation of all the poor women 
who had recourse to her. Since the departure of 
Marie-Louise, this institution has been improved. 
The Duchess d'Angoul^me, who was so charitable 
and munificent, became its president, and augmented 
its resources. 

Napoleon wished his Court to be brilliant. A sure 
method of pleasing him was to have a well-regulated 
house, and elegant equipages, to give fetes and receive 
on a large scale. He sometimes said, speaking of 
certain great personages, who were suspected of par- 
simony, " They are curmudgeons, who hoard up their 
money." He took great notice of the dress of the 
ladies. On coming into the salon he looked at each 
in succession, and his look was a regular inspection. 
He would go and say a gracious word to a lady 
whom he considered well-dressed, while one whose 
attire displeased him would be distinctly allowed to 
know it. He detested shawls, and no one could 
ever keep one on in his presence. The Cashmeres, 
which he put up with much against his will, and 
often talked about, displeased him still more. It was 



NAPOLEON'S TASTES. 215 

in order to put them out of fashion that he ordered 
some from M. Ternaux, designed by M. Isabey, which 
were certainly prettier than the Indian ones. Never- 
theless, the fashion still prevailed, and the latter 
continued to enjoy the preference. Since then, they 
have been perfectly imitated by M. Ternaux, and the 
Emperor paid him a very high price for his first 
attempts. He preferred diamonds for ornaments, 
and nothing could surpass the brilliancy of the 
spectacle at the Tuileries on a gala day. Even those 
who were accused of avarice endeavoured to surpass 
everybody else in diamonds. But " economizers " 
were the constant objects of Napoleon's jests and 
sarcasms. Sometimes they disregarded what he said, 
but occasionally they got angry, and the only result 
was to harden their resolution to save. 

It was quite natural that there should be a great 
disparity in a Court of such various material. The 
old nobles, happy to find themselves once again at 
their ease, freely enjoyed their fortune, sharing it 
with all those who surrounded them, without for- 
getting the poor. The newly enriched — princes, dukes, 
counts, barons, etc. — emulated them in luxury, but 
with less success. There were, however, some who 
rose to the level of their rank, but the number was 
small. Among the former were the Duke of Piacenza 
and Count ChaptaL Many persons are unaware that 
the former founded an establishment in the Depart- 
ment of Seine et Oise which gives employment to 



216 NAPOLEON AND MAlUE-LOUlSK. 

more than three hundred families. It is a cotton- 
spinning factory, which he set up at Dourdan, in 
a very poor district, totally without resources. 
There now exists in that place a well-built village, 
called by its inhabitants Yille-Brun, from motives 
of gratitude to their benefactor. Th^ Duke has, 
besides, established a primary school for children. 
Everybody knows what important services have been 
rendered to French industry by Count Chaptal, and 
the superb establishment which he has created at 
Ghambord. 

The Emperor knew every detail of what went 
on, and used to amuse himself by relating it all to 
the Empress. After his second marriage, he had a 
great desire to give his Court a better tone ; above 
all, he was anxious to change its moral aspect, and to 
lend at least an appearance of propriety to everything. 
Among the ladies who had been his favourites, only 
two preserved a place in his affections. One was 
Madame Walewska, who has always shown him a 
tender and faithful attachment; the other was a 
lady whose name I shall not disclose : up to the 
last moment the latter retained a certain influence 
over him. 

The Princes and Princesses had ladies to accom- 
pany them. They formed their suite at the pro- 
menade, adorned the salon in the evening, and con- 
tributed by their conversation to the general amuse- 
ment. In the case of the Queens these ladies were 



BARREN HONOUR. 217 

called " dames du palais ; " in that of the Princesses, 
" dames pour accompagner." These places were much 
sought for, and almost all given by favour. Those 
who obtained them were envied, because those who 
desired them did not understand the disagreeables and 
tribulations attached to them. Every three months 
the list of " waits " was made out ; but it was a very 
troublesome business to find the twelve ladies who 
were required, some being ill, others absent, or in an 
interesting situation. When, however, the list was 
at length completed and the ladies nominated, they 
arranged the order of waiting between themselves, 
four to each month. Of these four, two only were on 
duty every day ; the two others came in the evening, 
and on Sunday. The two ladies whose waiting was 
called the " grand service " appeared at eleven o'clock 
in the morning, in the salon appropriated to them. 
They were free either to occupy themselves, or to 
do nothing, and remained there until one o'clock. 
Then her Majesty went out, either in a carriage or 
on foot. If on foot, they formed her suite. If it 
happened (but this was very rare) that the Lady-in- 
Waiting and the Lady of the Bedchamber were not 
at the Palace, then the Empress took one of these 
ladies in her carriage, generally the oldest or the most 
important, and not the one whom she would have 
preferred. But such fortune rarely befell them ; they 
most usually followed in another carriage, with 
the Gentleman-in -Waiting and a Chamberlain. The 



218 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISK. 

Equerry and the Page on duty were always on horse- 
back, one on the right and the other on the left 
of her Majesty's carriage. The drive lasted one or 
two hours. On returning to the Palace the Empress 
bowed to these ladies, and went into her private 
apartments, followed by her Lady-in- Waiting and her 
Lady of the Bedchamber. The two ladies remained 
at the Palace until five o'clock. They then asked 
leave to retire, obtained it, and returned home, very 
tired, very much bored, very discontented, and very 
happy when nothing disagreeable had taken place. 
They had to come back at seven o'clock, and were not 
free until Marie-Louise retired to rest. 

The evening was more agreeable than the day. The 
Emperor almost always asked for the suite ; then the 
two ladies, the Chamberlain, the Equerry, and the 
Page came in. Nevertheless, I have seen a Duchess 
and a Countess who were on duty exposed to a very 
mortifying incident. All persons who had been pre- 
sented were admitted on the days of grand ceremonial, 
but a small number formed the private society of the 
Court. This was composed of the Ministers, the great 
dignitaries, and the favourites, both men and women. 
They had what is called the " petites entrees ; " that is 
to say, the right of coming every day and at any hour. 
They all assembled in the same salon. When the 
Emperor had dined, he passed into his own salon, 
talked for a while alone with the Empress, all the 
doors standing open ; afterwards he called for the 



A POINT OF ETIQUETTE. 219 

" entries " and the suite. The Chamberlain repeated 
the order, and each came in according to rank. If 
he did not ask for the suite, then those who had not 
the " petites entries " remained in the first salon. These 
" entrees " were given, and taken back, every three 
months, so there should not be too many people at 
once. One day that the Duchess of Rovigo and Madame 
de Bouill^ were " de grand service," the Emperor asked 
only for the " entrees." The Chamberlain and the 
Equerry only were there ; they came in, and the two 
ladies remained entirely alone. Madame de Bouille 
called for her carriage, and went away in a rage. The 
Duchess, who was at least as much mortified, more 
prudentlju^emained; and this was well,for the Emperor, 
being informed who were the ladies on duty that day, 
hastened to say that they were to come in. The 
Duchess only was to be found. She said that Madame 
de Bouilld had been taken ill ; but she was not believed, 
and the Emperor loudly condemned the conduct of 
the Countess. That evening he made himself very 
agreeable to the Duchess of Rovigo. 

In addition to the Ladies of the Palace, there were 
several Chamberlains, some of whom were nomi- 
nated by the Emperor to the service of the Empress. 
The same was done with respect to the Equerries and 
the Pages. There were four, and sometimes six, who 
took their turn (I don't include among them Prince 
Aldobrandini, her Majesty's First Equerry). Among 
thetsc Chamberlains and Equerries there was the same 



220 NAPOLEON AND MAIUE-LOUISE. 

mixture as elsewhere, and it would have been natural 
that the old nobility, thus socially united with the 
new, should give the tone and politeness of former 
times to the Imperial circle. This, however, was not 
the case ; and I must here remark, as several persons 
have done, that the old nobility affected the worst 
tone, and talked in the most indecent and unbecoming 
manner. These same individuals, on their return to 
the Faubourg St. Germains, would resume the habits 
and demeanour which they ought never to have laid 
aside. There were, however, some to whom this 
censure does not apply. In the service which he 
rendered to their Majesties, M. de Saint- Aignan united 
profound respect to all the graces of the mind, ex- 
tensive information and fine manners. M. de M 

and M. d'E ought to have imitated him, but they 

did nothing of the kind. A disagreeable adventure 
occurred to the former. One day, when it was raining, 
he rode out of the Elys^e Bourbon, by the side of the 
Empress's carriage, and, perceiving an individual who 
had kept his hat on his head, he struck the hat off 
with his whip, and flung it into the mud. The owner 
of the hat ascertained his name. A duel followed, and 

^ ^Q M received a sword wound, which was 

fortunately not dangerous. He was blamed, and 
particularly by the Emperor, who expressed his 
displeasure at such conduct, adding, " It is very well 
done ; he has only got what he deserved." 

It will be surmised from what 1 have just 



PALACE PUitbUlTS. 221 

related, that the Ladies of the Palace, who were forced 
by their service to pass five or six hours with these 
gentlemen, did not find their society very pleasant, 
and indeed they often complained of it. They were 
obliged to listen to narratives of scandalous adven- 
tures, which made some of them blush, and embar- 
rassed most of them ; they also had to endure very 
unbecoming jesting upon their own affairs. The 
Emperor was ignorant of all this. Before him every- 
body was respectful, polite, and reserved; but they 
made up for that when his back was turned. 

I must add, to finish what I have to say about 
the salon, that a lady and two gentlemen played 
cards with the Empress ; that other card-parties were 
made up between the ladies, but in another room; 
and that the Emperor generally passed the evening in 
talking with one or two of his Ministers, whom he 
took into a little salon, where there was a billiard- 
table for the Empress. Napoleon played billiards 
very badly, without any attention, and ran about 
the whole time : he chose that time to give vent 
to his anger, or to scold, if he had anything to com- 
plain of. His voice only was heard, and he was 
rarely answered. Indeed, except himself, nobody was 
heard to speak in the salon ; although it was filled 
with courtiers, it was impossible to. distinguish any 
voice. There was some talking, of course, but it was 
carried on in very low tones, and according to the 
usage of the old Court. The Emperor sometimes 



222 NAPOLEON AND MAUIE-LOUISB, 

played at whist, and he delighted in cheating, and 
laughed with all his heart when this was perceived, 
although nobody dared to make any observation to 
him on the subject. 

Napoleon never relinquished friendships which he 
had formed in his youth. When he became First 
Consul, he continued to receive the friends of his 
humbler days at St. Cloud, with all his former fami- 
liarity. Of those who composed the Imperial Court, 
no one was more deserving of the esteem and friend- 
ship of honourable men than Count de Lac^pede, the 
friend and worthy successor of the illustrious BoufFon, 
Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour from the 
foundation of that institution, and who lost his post 
on the arrival of Louis XYIII. at Paris. Count de 
Lacep^de then retired to an estate which he possessed 
in the Department of Loire et Garonne. 

When he was informed of the return of Napoleon, 
he did not hasten, like so many others, to grovel at the 
feet of his former master. He remained in his retreat, 
occupied by literary and scientific labours, until a 
courier came, bringing him the Emperor's order to 
resume his former functions, and also to preside over 
the Senate. Louis XYIII. had quitted France. The 
authority of Napoleon was recognized everywhere. 
It was his duty to render obedience to the summons. 
He therefore repaired to the post which was assigned 
to him. On the return of the King in the following 
year, he was a second time deprived of his functions. 



BUFFON. 223 

and was, besides, struck off the list of senators. Never- 
theless, no place was ever so well filled as that of 
Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, while it 
was held by M. de Lac^pede. He had the art of send- 
ing away even those whom he could not satisfy, well 
pleased. The Emperor had nominated him to the 
Seignory of Paris. This, with the Grand-Chancellor- 
ship, gave him a right to two separate salaries. For 
several years he refused to receive more than one, 
thus setting a good example of disinterestedness to 
the courtiers. What need had he of a great fortune ? 
He had simple tastes, he lived without any display, 
and devoted every moment which he could spare from 
public afiairs, to study. The venal men who sur- 
rounded Napoleon regarded his conduct with dis- 
pleasure. They induced the Emperor to take a false 
view of it, and Count de Lacep^de was ordered to 
receive his two salaries. He availed himself of this 
necessity to give freer course to his love of doing 
grood. Amonoc the numerous instances of those which 
I could relate, I shall limit myself to only one. A 
senior clerk, in the Bureau of the Legion of Honour, 
a highly respectable man with a family, had been ill 
for several months, and all the symptoms of his illness 
indicated that it was caused by mental anxiety. One 
of his intimate friends succeeded in discovering the 
secret, and learned that a debt of twenty thousand 
francs, contracted during the Revolution, for the sub- 
sistence of his family, still remained unpaid, and that 



224 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

his creditor was threatening him every month with 
a prosecution. This friend was acquainted with M. 
de Lac^pede, and, after having gravely reflected upon 
the position of the sick man, he went to the Chancellor 
and told him all, adding, that a person of his acquaint- 
ance, a man of merit and talent, would lend the 
twenty thousand francs that were necessary, on the 
sole condition that M. de Lac^pede should give him 
the place, if the senior clerk died before that sum of 
money had been repaid. " That is impossible," replied 
the Count, after a moment's thought. "I am very 
sorry, but it would be unjust towards the under-clerk, 
who has been doing his work since his illness, and 
who deserves to have the place should so unfortunate 
an event occur." The intercessor returned home ill 
satisfied with the result of his attempt. Presently 
a letter was brought to him from Count de Lacepede. 
I give an exact copy of it. 

"Sib, 

" Have the goodness to hand to our friend 

M. the accompanying trifle, and impress upon 

him that he must not think of reimbursing me until 
he has entirely recovered his health, and until he 
possesses one hundred thousand livres a year. 

" I am, etc., 
"B. G. E. L. V. S. Count de Lac]6pI:de." 

The " trifle " accompanying this letter was twenty 
thousand francs in bank notes. 



THE DUCIIRSS OF WEIMAR. 225 

Everybody has heard how Napoleon, when a de- 
spairing woman implored him to pardon her hus- 
band, burned in her presence a letter containing 
the sole existing proof of his treason. The incident 
is too well known to be related in detail. Another 
of the same kind is less familiar. After the battle 
of Jena, the French army commanded by Napoleon 
was expected at Weimar. The most' wealthy and 
distinguished people of that city, especially the 
ladies of the reigning family, fled to Brunswick, 
because, as the Duke was serving in the Prussian 
army with his troops, the vengeance of the conqueror 
was to be dreaded. The Duchess alone resolved not 
to abandon her capital. She retired into a wing of her 
palace with her ladies, and caused apartments to be 
prepared for the Emperor. On his arrival, the Duchess 
left the little room which she had reserved for herself, 
and took her place at the head of the grand staircase, 
to receive him with all due ceremony. 

" Who are you ? " said Napoleon, on seeing her. 

" I am the Duchess of Weimar." 

" In that case I am sorry for you, as I shall crush 
your husband." 

He paid her no more attention, but retired into 
the apartment prepared for him. The following 
morning the Duchess learned that pillage had been 
begun in the town. She sent one of her chamberlains 
to the Emperor to inquire after his health, and 
to ask for an audience. This proceeding pleased 



226 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Napoleon, and he sent word to the Duchess that he 
should come and ask her to give him breakfast. 
Hardly had he arrived before he began, according to 
his custom, to question her. 

"How could your husband, Madame," said he, 
" have been so foolish as to make war upon me ? " 

"Your Majesty would have despised him had he 
done otherwise." 

"Why?" 

" My husband has passed thirty years in the 
service of Prussia. It is not at the moment when 
the King had to contend against so powerful an 
enemy as your Majesty, that the Duke could forsake 
him with honour." 

This answer, which was as adroit as it was just, 
seemed to soften the Emperor. 

"But how came the Duke to attach himself to 
Prussia ? " 

"Your Majesty must be aware that the younger 
branches of the House of Saxony have always followed 
the example of the Elector. Now, the policy of the 
Prince having led him to ally himself with Prussia 
rather than with Austria, the Duke could not do 
otherwise than imitate the head of his house." 

They continued to converse for some time upon 
the same subject, the Duchess still displaying equal 
intelligence and high spirit. At last Napoleon rose, 
exclaiming — 

"Madame, you are the most estimable woman 1 



THE BRIDGE OF LODI. 227 

have ever known. You have saved your husband. 
I pardon him ; but it is to you alone that he owes it." 

At the same time, he commanded the pillage in 
the town to be stopped, and order was restored there 
immediately. Some time afterwards he signed a 
treaty which secured the existence of the Duchy 
of Weimar, and he ordered the courier who was the 
bearer of it, to present it to the Duchess. 

Since it has become the fashion to deny every 
kind of talent and every kind of merit to a man who 
has certainly conceived and executed extraordinary 
things, an effort has been made to deprive him of the 
glory of even his most brilliant actions. For instance, 
it has been said that the famous passage of the 
Bridge of Lodi was not an act of bravery, but a suc- 
cessful stratagem ; that the flag which he held in his 
hand when he flung himself upon the bridge was 
almost white, and that the enemy, taking it for a 
flag of truce, had suspended the fire during his 
passage. No more absurd fable could be imagined. 
To credit it we should have to suppose that the enemy 
were mad, or blind, if they could take for the bearer 
of a flag of truce an officer advancing towards them 
not alone, not even attended by a few men, but 
followed by a body of troops which occupied the 
whole breadth of the bridge, and came on at the 
charge. Among other things with which IN apoleon has 
been reproached, is his answer to the Corps Legislatif 
at the beginning of January, 1814. " In three 



228 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

months," he had said, " we sh^fll have peace, the enemy 
shall be driven out, or I shall be dead." " Why did 
he not get himself killed ? " asked certain persons. 
Perhaps he could not. All the officers who were 
with him in the neighbourhood of Troyes affirm that 
he exposed himself in such a way as to prove that 
he sought death.* 

The following is a less known fact. In the various 
conflicts which took place around Brienne, the Emperor, 
aware of the resistance which he experienced, placed 
himself at the head of a squadron of Chasseurs, and 
joined the vanguard. There he led a succession of 
charges for two hours in the midst of a hail of balls. 
A young man whom I know has assured me that he and 
several others saw Napoleon fired at more than twenty 
times without being hit. His suite made incredible 
efforts to induce him to leave this dangerous post, but 
totally in vain ; he seemed to be endeavouring to end 
his life. It would have been happy for him and for 
France if he had perished in the Plain of Champagne. 
We should not have seen the Hundred Days and the 
disasters which have followed them, nor he himself 
have endured captivity and humiliations to which 
death would liave been far preferable. 

My last words regarding Napoleon shall refer to 
his departure for St. Helena. 

On his arrival at Rochfort, he stiU hoped that he 

♦ " Perhaps he could not." Instead of these words, it would be 
more true to say that " 'death woald have none of him.** This is 
what he himself said at Fontaineblejiu. 



LOWER DEEPS. 229 

could freely embark for America. He had been led to 
believe this, but he found English vessels posted to 
oppose his passage. There was in the port a Danish 
barque, whose Captain had married a French woman; 
and being touched by the Emperor's great misfortunes, 
this man came to him and proposed to conduct him to 
the United States if he would intrust himself to him. 
He told him that there was a perfectly secure hiding- 
place in his ship, but that it could only contain a 
single man and some clothes, and he pledged his word 
of honour that there Napoleon should be safe from 
discovery. It is asserted that Napoleon was very 
near accepting this offer, but the persons who ac- 
companied him, fearing that it was only a snare, 
did everything they could to prevent him. Napoleon 
believed in the honour and generosity of the English 
Government : the whole world knows how he was 
treated. 

The captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena; the 
tortures of every kind which were inflicted upon him 
by the Sovereigns, in revenge for his victories, and the 
glory which he had had shed upon the French name ; 
the mean malice of the English Government, — all the 
sufferings inflicted on this great man have obscured the 
wrong done by his ambition. Every generous heart 
was moved in his favour to compassion for the hero 
struggling against a vile Governor, who was the im- 
placable agent of the English Minister. Deep pity 
was felt for the husband, the father, separated not 

16 



280 NAPOLEON AND MARIE- LOUISE. 

only from his wife and from his son, but also from his 
mother and his sisters, by whom he was so dearly 
loved, and who were refused permission to join him. 
Had anything more been needed to revive the love 
of Napoleon and hatred of his oppressors in the 
hearts of the French, his death has augmented 
these two sentiments. No fact exists in history com- 
parable to the emotion with which his ashes were 
received. All France crowded the route over which 
the coffin passed, following it with enthusiasm, saluting 
it with shouts until the moment of its arrival at the 
Invalides. Thenceforth, for years, there was an inces- 
sant crowd eager to look upon his tomb. Napoleon 
alone has had such a triumph after his death. All 
honour be to him who claimed those ashes, and like- 
wise to him who brought them back to France I 



{ 231 ) 



APPENDIX. 

PIECES JUSTIFICATIVE5S. 

No. 1. 

A Report made to the Corps Legislatif, hy the Extra- 
ordinary Commission appointed by that Body, on 
the 2Sth of December, 1813 :— 

Gentlemen, 

The Extraordinary Commission which you 
have appointed, in virtue of the Emperor's decree of 
the 20th of December, 1813, presents the Report which 
you are expecting under these grave circumstances. 

It is not for the Commission only, it is for the 
Corps Legislatif as a whole, to express the senti- 
ments which are inspired by the communication of 
the original documents in the custody of the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs, by command of his Majesty. 
That communication has taken place under the pre- 
sidency of his Serene Highness the Arch-Chancellor 
of the Empire. The documents which have beeri 
placed betore u§ are nine in number. 



232 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

Among these documents are notes, by the French 
Minister and the Austrian Minister, which date back 
to the 18th and 21st of August. 

They also include the speech delivered by the 
Regent to the English Parliament, on the 5th of 
September, The Regent said — 

' " It is not within the intentions of his Majesty, or 
within those of the Allied Powers, to demand from 
France any sacrifice which may be incompatible with 
her honour and her just rights." 

The present negotiation for peace begins with the 
10th of last November. It was arranged by the 
agency of the French Minister in Germany. Having 
been present at an interview between the Ministers 
of Austria and England, he was commissioned to 
carry back the words of peace to France, and to make 
known the general and compendious bases upon which 
peace might be negotiated. 

The Minister of Exterior Relations, M. le Due de 
Bassano, replied, on the 16th, to this communication 
from the Austrian Minister. He stated that a peace 
founded on the basis of the general independpnce of 
nations upon both land and sea was the object of 
the desires and the policy of the Emperor ; in con- 
sequence, he proposed that a Congress should be 
assembled at Manheim. 

The Austrian Minister replied, on the 23rd of 
November, that their Imperial Majesties and the King 
of Prussia were ready to negotiate, as soon as they 



APPENDIX 233 

should have received an assurance that the Emperor 
of the French admitted the general and compendious 
bases previously communicated. 

The Powers hold that the principles contained in 
the letter of the 16th, although generally shared by 
all the Governments of Europe, could not take the 
place of bases. 

On the 2nd of December, the Minister of Exterior 
Relations, M. le Due de Bassano, gave the desired 
assurance. 

Recapitulating the general principles of the letter 
of the 16th, he announces, with lively satisfaction, 
that his Majesty the Emperor gave his adherence to 
the proposed bases, that these would involve great 
sacrifices on the part of France, but that she would 
make those sacrifices without reluctance, in order to 
give peace to Europe. 

To this letter the Austrian Minister replied, on the 
10th of December, that their Majesties had learned, 
with satisfaction, that the Emperor had adopted the 
essential bases of the balance of power and the tran- 
quility of Europe, that they had given orders for the 
communication of the document to their AUies, and 
did not doubt that negotiations might be opened 
immediately after their answers. 

According to the communications which have been 
made to us, the negotiation stops with this latter 
document. 

With that document it is permissible to hope it 



234 NAPOLEON AND JtARIE-LOUISB. 

will resume its natural course, when the delay, ren- 
dered necessary by a more distant communication, 
shall be over. It is, then, upon these two documents 
that our hopes may rest. 

While this correspondence was taking place be- 
tween the respective Ministers, there was printed, in 
the Frankfort Gazette, and placed before your Com- 
mission, in virtue of the close letter of his Majesty, a 
declaration of the Allied Powers, under date of the 1st 
of December, in which, among other things, the follow- 
ing passage is to be remarked : — 

" The Allied Sovereigns desire that France may be 
great, strong, and fortunate, because the greatness of 
the French power is one of the fundamental bases of the 
social edifice. They desire that France may be fortu- 
nate, that French commerce may revive, that the Arts 
— a gift of peace — may flourish afresh, because a great 
people can only remain quiet in proportion to its 
prosperity. The Powers confirm to France an extent 
of territory which she never knew under her kings, 
because a brave nation is not a fallen one for havinor, 
in its turn, sustained reverses in a stubborn and 
sanguinary conflict, in which it has fought with its 
accustomed intrepidity." 

It results from these documents that aU the belli- 
gerent Powers have plainly expressed a desire for 
peace. 

You have especially observed therein that the 
Emperor has manifested a resolution to make great 



Ai^ENDIX. 235 

sacrifices, that he has acceded to the general and com- 
pendious bases proposed by the Allied Powers them 
selves. 

The most patriotic anxiety does not require that 
those general and compendious bases should as yet 
be made known. 

Without seeking to penetrate into Cabinet secrets, 
when the knowledge of them is not necessary for the 
object to be attained, is it not sufficient to know that 
those bases are only the conditions desired for the 
opening of a Congress ? Does it not suffice to remark 
that those conditions have been proposed by the Allied 
Powers themselves, and to be convinced that his 
Majesty has given his full adherence to the bases 
necessary to the opening of a Congress in which all 
rights and all interests are to be discussed ? The 
Austrian Minister has, besides, acknowledged that the 
Emperor had adopted bases essential to the restora- 
tion of the balance of power in Europe, and conse- 
quently the adherence given by his Majesty to those 
bases has been a great step towards the pacification 
of the world. 

According to the Constitutional regulations, it is 
the province of the Corps L^gislatif to express the 
sentiments to which these communications give rise ; 
for it is enacted by clause 30, of the Senatus-con- 
sultum of the 18th Frimaire, Year XII., that — 

"The Corps Legislatif, on every occasion when the 
Government shaU make a communication to it, on any 



236 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

other subject than the voting of a law, shall form 
itself into a general committee to deliberate upon its 
answer." 

As the Corps L^gislatif expects its Commission to 
offer reflections appropriate to the preparation of a 
response worthy of the French nation and of the 
Emperor, we take leave to express some of our senti- 
ments to you. 

The first is that of gratitude for a communication, 
which at this moment summons the Corps Legislatif 
to take cognizance of the political interests of the 

State. 

We experience a feeling of hope, in the midst of 
the disasters of war, on seeing kings and nations 
emulating each other in pronouncing the name of 
peace. 

In fact, gentlemen, the solemn and reiterated 
assurances of the belligerent Powers agree with the 
universal desire of France for peace, with that desire 
which is generally expressed around each one of us in 
our respective departments, and which finds its natural 
organ of expression in the Corps Legislatif. 

According to the general bases contained in the 
declarations, the desire of all humanity for a firm and 
honourable peace would seem to be about to be 
realized speedily. It will be honourable, because, for 
nations as for individuals, honour consists in the 
maintaining their own rights and respecting the 
rights of others. That peace will also be firm, because 



APPENDIX. 237 

the true guarantee of peace is the interest which each 
of the contracting parties has in remaining faithful 
to it. 

What, then, can hinder and retard its blessings ? 
The Allied Powers bear the striking testimony to the 
Emperor that he has adopted the bases essential to 
the restoration of the balance of power and the tran- 
quility of Europe. 

We have, as the first pledge of his pacific inten- 
tions, Adversity, that true counsellor of kings, the 
plainly expressed need of the people, and even the 
interest of the Crown. 

To these pledges you will, perhaps, think it useful 
bo entreat his Majesty to add one still more solemn. 

If the declarations of the foreign Powers were 
fallacious, if they desired to enslave us, if they 
meditated the rending asunder of the sacred soil of 
France, it would be necessary, to prevent our country 
from becoming the prey of the foreigner, to render the 
war national ; but, in order the more securely to eff'ect 
that righteous operation which saves empires, is it not 
necessary to unite the nation and its monarch in closer 
bonds ? 

It is a necessity to impose silence upon our enemies 
respecting their accusations of aggrandizement, of 
conquests, of alarming preponderance. Since the 
Allied Powers have thought it their duty to reassure 
the nations by publicly proclaimed protestations, is it 
not worthy of his Majesty to enlighten them by 



T6S NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

solemn declarations, upon the designs of France and 
the Emperor? 

When that Prince to whom history has preserved 
the name of "Great" wanted to rekindle the spirit of 
his people, he revealed to them all that he had done 
for peace, and his high confidences were not without 
effect. 

Would there not be real greatness in disabusing 
the Allied Powers, in order to prevent them from 
accusing France and the Emperor of desiring to hold 
too extensive a territory, whose preponderance they 
seem to dread ? 

It is not, indeed, for us to inspire words which 
would resound throughout the universe ; but in order 
that the declaration might have a useful intluence 
upon the foreign Powers, and produce the hoped-for 
influence in France, would it not be desirable that it 
should proclaim to Europe and to France a promise 
not to continue war except for the independence of 
the French people and the integrity of their territory ? 

Would not this declaration have an indisputable 
authority in all Europe ? 

When his Majesty should thus have replied, in his 
own name and in that of France, to the declaration of 
the Allies, there would be seen, on the one side, the 
Powers who protest that they do not want to appro- 
priate to themselves a territory recognized by him as 
being necessary to the balance of power in Europe, 
and, on the other, a monarch which would declare 



APPENDIX. 239 

himself to be animated solely by the resolution to 
defend that territory. 

That, if the French Empire only remained faithful 
to those liberal principles, which, however, the chiefs 
of the nations of Europe have all proclaimed, France 
would then, being forced by the obstinacy of the enemy 
to a war of the nation and of independence, to a war of 
acknowledged justice and necessity, be capable of dis- 
playing energy, unity, and perseverance in support of 
her rights, she has already given sufficiently striking 
proofs. Unanimous in her desire to obtain peace, she 
will be equally unanimous in her efforts to conquer it ; 
and she will again show the world that a great nation 
can do all it wills, when it wills nothing except that 
which its honour and its just rights demand. 

The declaration, for which we venture to hope, 
would meet the views of the Powers who do homage 
to French valour ; but this is not enough to rally the 
nation itself and to put it into a state of defence. 

It is, according to the laws, for the Government to 
propose such means as it believes to be surest and 
speediest for repulsing the enemy and securing a firm 
and lasting peace. 

Those means will be effectual, if the French are 
convinced that the Government aspires to the glory 
of Peace only; they will be effectual, if the French are 
convinced that their blood will be shed solely in 
defence of their country and of protecting laws ; but 
those consoling words " country " and " peace " would 



240 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISK. 

resound in vain if the institutions which promise the 
benefits of both one and the other be not guaranteed. 

It appears, therefore, indispensable to your Com- 
mission that, when the Government shall propose the 
promptest measures for the safety of the State, his 
Majesty shall be, at the same time, entreated to main- 
tain the entire and constant execution of the laws 
which guarantee to Frenchmen the rights of liberty, 
security, and property, and to the nation the free 
exercise of its political rights. This pledge appears 
to your Commission the most eflfectual means of 
restoring to the French people the energy which is 
needed for their own defence. 

These ideas have been suggested to your Com- 
mission by the desire and the necessity for binding the 
throne closely to the nation, in order to make com- 
bined efforts against arbitrary anarchy and the 
enemies of our country. 

Your Commission has limited itself, according to 
its functions, to laying before you reflections which 
have appeared to it appropriate to the preparation ol 
the answer which you are called upon to make by 
the Constitution. 

How will you convey it? The Constitutional 
regulation determines the method : it is by discussing 
your answer in general committee ; and as the Corps 
L^gislatif is called upon to present an address each 
year to the Emperor, you will probably think fit to 
adopt that mode of conveying the ansv^er to the com- 



APPENDIX. 241 

munication which has been made to you. If his 
Majesty's first thought, in important circumstances, 
has been to collect the deputies of the nation around 
the throne, is it not their first duty to make a fitting 
response to that convocation by letting the truth, 
and the people's desire for peace, be known to the 
monarch ? * 



No. 2. 



Napoleon' 8 Speech to the Deputation froTn the Corps 
L^gislatify January 1, 1814. 

Gentlemen, 

I called you together that you might assist 
me to do good ; you have disappointed my expecta- 
tion. You have allowed yourselves to be led by five 
factious persons. 

M. Lain^ is a mischievous man. I know that he 
maintains relations with the Regent of England, 
through the medium of De Seze, the lawyer. M. 
Raynouard has said that General Massena committed 
vile and base acts in a certain chateau : he has lied. 
The imputation cast on the General is a calumny. 
How comes it that a Marshal of the Empire is treated 
in such a fashion ? I know how all numerous assem- 
blies are led : one gets into this corner, another into 

* At St. Helena the Emperor declared this document to be incor- 
rect, and that, as it was reported, it was not reasonable. As Napoleon 
did not indicate the passages which were not correct, I give the report, 
with his observation. 



242 NAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISK 

that, and presently the whole mass follows the im- 
pulse that it has been given. 

Among you, eleven-twelfths are honest people, but 
there are also schemers and agitators ; I know them. 
In the Corps L^gislatif there are worshipful magis- 
trates, procurators-general, judges, notaries, an Envoy 
Extraordinary to the United States ; but intrigue has 
dictated your choice. The same men appear on the 
Diplomatic Commission, on the Finance Commission, 
and on the Commission for drawing up the Address. 

The Report of your Commissions has given me 
great pain ; I would rather have lost two battles. 
To what did it tend ? To augment the claims of the 
enemy ! It proposed that I should yield more than 
the enemy exacts. If they were to demand Cham- 
pagne Brie, I should then have to give up also ? Yes, 
a frank declaration of my sentiments was desired ; 
I have made it : we will no longer fight to make or 
to keep conquests, but only to deliver France. 

If abuses have been committed, I ought to have 
been told of them, division by division, I should 
have put my Commissaries in communication with 
my Ministers ; they would have verified those abuses. 
We should have washed our dirty linen at home. 
But is it in presence of the enemy that these remon- 
strances ought to have been made? The object of 
them was to humiliate me. It was designed to throw 
dirt in my face. I may be killed, but none shalJ 
dishonour me. 



APPENDIX, 243 

I was not bom among the kings, and I care not 
for the throne. What is a throne ? Four bits of 
gilded wood, covered with a length of velvet. A 
thousand woes surround thrones ; but while I sit on 
one, I will defend its rights. The nation has more 
need of me than I of it. 

Your Commission has humiliated me more than 
the enemy did ; it has said that Adversity is the truth- 
telling counsellor of kings ; and that thought is a true 
one, but the application that is made of it is cowardly. 
My enemies have never reproached me with not being 
above adversity ; to do so is to add irony to insult. 

In four months, I shall publish the odious Report 
of your Commission. If any one thinks proper to 
circulate it, I shall have it printed in the Moniteur, 
with notes from my own hand. 

What did you want to do ? To carry us back to 
the Constitution of 1791 ? I wiU not have a consti- 
tution about which I understand nothing. If Louis 
XVI. had not accepted it he would be reigning still. 

Did you reckon the faubourgs Saint-Antoine and 
Saint- Marceau ? Did you want to imitate the Legis- 
lative Assembly ? It allowed itself to be governed by 
the Girondists, by Vergniaux, Guadet, and the rest. 
What has become of them ? They are in the grave. 

Who are you, to reform the State ? You think 
you are the representatives of the nation. In Eng- 
land the Commons are representatives, because they 
are nominated by the people : our Constitution is not 



244 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

the same ; that is not my fault. You are only depu 
ties to the Corps L^gislatif. The real representative 
of the nation is I, who have been three times pro- 
claimed their Sovereign by four millions of citizens. 
The Senate and the Council of State share the legis- 
lative power with me, and before you ; every autho- 
rity is attached to the throne, all is in the throne. 

I repeat, that more than eleven- twelfths of you 
are good ; but you have let yourselves be led by fac- 
tious men. M. Lain^ is a traitor; I shall keep an eye 
upon him and the evildoers, and I will repress them. 

Return to your Departments. I count upon the 
good spirit which you will take back thither. Tell 
your fellow-citizens that the resources of France are 
not so much exhausted as it is supposed. If I again 
meet with reverses, I will await my adversaries in 
the plains of Champagne. In three months we shall 
have peace ; the enemy will be driven out, or I shall 
be dead. 



No. 3. 

The Emperor Napoleon's Act of Abdication. 

The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Em- 
peror Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the restora- 
tion of peace in Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, 
faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for 
himself and his heirs, the throne of France and of 
Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that 



APPENDIX. 245 

of life, which he is not ready to make to the interest 
of France. 

(Done at the Palace of Fontainebleau, on the 
11th of April, 1814.) 

(Signed) Napoleon. 

(Countersigned) Dupont (of Nemours), 
Secretary-General of the Provisional Government.* 



No. 4. 



The Speech addressed by Napoleon at the Moment of 
his Departure, to the Troops of the Old Guard 
who had remained with him,. 

Officers, subalterns, and soldiers of my Old Guard, 
I bid you farewell. 

For the twenty years that I have commanded you, 
I have been well pleased with you ; I have always 
found you on the path of glory. 

The Allied Powers have armed the whole of Europe 
against me ; one portion of the army has forsaken its 
duty, and France has yielded to private interests. 

With you and the brave men who have remained 

* I have been told thnt after Napoleon had executed this deed 
he displayed the utmost calnmess, the noblest resignation, and that 
he seemed like one relieved of a lieavy load. He talked, a few 
minutes afterwards, familiarly and like any ordinary citizen, with 
the general officers of his Court, about the results of the Revolution, 
as though it had nothing to do with him, ^d made a long allocutiou 
to them full of generous sentiments. 

17 



246 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

faithful to me, I could have carried on civil war for 
three years ; but France would have been unhappy, 
and that would have been contrary to the aim which 
I have incessantly kept before me. It was, then, my 
duty to sacrifice my personal interests to her hap- 
piness : I have done so. 

My friends, be always faithful to the new Sovereign 
whom France has just chosen for herself ; do not for- 
sake that dear country, too long unhappy. Do not 
lament my fate ; I shall always be happy in knowing 
that you are so. I might have died, nothing could 
have been easier to me ; but no ! I shall always follow 
the path of honour. I will write what we have 
done ! 

I cannot embrace you all, but I am about to em- 
brace your chief Come, General ! [He embraced 
General Petit.] Bring me the eagle. [While embracing 
it, he said] Dear eagle, may these kisses resound 
in the hearts of all my brave men. 

Farewell, my children ! Adieu, my friends ! Come 
round me once more ! 



No. 6. 

It was only for the purpose of counteracting the 
efiect of the *' Address of the Provisional Government 
to the Army," upon the mind of his troops, that 
Napoleon put forward the following " Order of the 
Day," which was dated the 4th of April, 1814 ; — 



APPENDIX. S47 

The Emperor thanks the army for the attachment 
which it manifests to him, and principally because it 
recognizes that France is in him, and not in the people 
of the capital. The soldier follows the fortune and 
the misfortune of his general, his honour and his 
religion. The Due de Ragusa did not inspire his 
companions in arms with those sentiments. He has 
gone over to the Allies. The Emperor cannot approve 
the condition under which he has taken this step ; he 
cannot accept either life or liberty from the mercy of 
a subject. The Senate has permitted itself to dispose 
of the French Government : it has forgotten that it 
owes the power which it now abuses to the Emperor ; 
that it is he who saved one part of its members from 
the storm of the Revolution, and who took the other 
part out of obscurity, and protected it from the enmity 
of the nation. The Senate avails itself of the Articles 
of the Constitution to overturn it; it unblushingly 
reproaches the Emperor, regardless of the fact that, as 
the first Body of the State, it has taken part in all the 
events that have occurred. It has gone so far as to 
dare to accuse the Emperor of having changed certain 
Acts in publication : the whole world knows that he 
had no need of such artifices ; a sign was an order for 
the Senate, which always did more than was desired 
of it. The Emperor has always been accessible to the 
wise remonstrances of his Ministers, and he expected 
from them, in that circumstance, a most definite jus- 
tification of the measures which he had taken. If 



248 - NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

enthusiasm was admitt ed into the public speeches and 
add resses, then the Emperor has been deceived ; but 
those who spoke in such a fashion ought to attribute 
the fatal result of their flattery to themselves. The 
Senate does not hesitate to speak of libels published 
against foreign Governments ; it forgets that they were 
concocted within itself. If these men remained faithful 
so long as fortune was constant to their Sovereign, and 
no complaint of the abuse of power was ever heard ; 
if the Emperor did despise men, as he is reproached 
with despising them, the world will acknowledge now 
that he had reasons which justified his contempt. He 
held his dignity from God and from the nation ; they 
alone could deprive him of it. He has always regarded 
it as a burden, and when he accepted it, he did so with 
the conviction that only he could carry it worthily. 
Good fortune seemed to be his destiny ; now that fate 
has decided against him, the will of the nation alone 
could persuade him to remain longer upon the throne 
If he must regard himself as the only obstacle to 
peace, he readily makes the last sacrifice to France. 
He has therefore sent the Due de Moskowa to Paris 
to open negotiations. The Army may be certain that 
its honour wiU never be in opposition to the welfare 
of France. 



JLPFENDIX. 249 



No. 6. 



Treaty between the Allied Powers and his Majesty 
the Emperor Napoleon, 

A.RTICLE I. — His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon 
renounces, on behalf of himself, his successors and 
descendants, as well as on behalf of aU the members 
of his family, all rights of sovereignty and dominion 
over the French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and 
every other country. 

Article II. — Their Majesties the Emperor Napoleon 
and Marie-Louise shall retain their titles and rank, 
and enjoy them during their lifetime. The mother, 
brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces of the Emperor 
shaU also retain, in whatsoever place they reside, the 
titles of Princes of his family. 

Article III. — The Island of Elba, which the Emperor 
Napoleon has chosen as his place of residence, shall 
form, during a life, a separate principality, which he 
shall hold wholly as his property and his sovereignty. 
There shall also be granted to the Emperor Napoleon 
an annual revenue of two millions of francs, as his 
absolute property, which shall be charged as an 
annuity upon the Great Book of the Public Debt. 
Of this sum one million of francs shall be reversionary 
to the Empress. 

Article IV. — The Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and 
Guastalla shall be given whoUy as property and 



260 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

sovereignty to her Majesty the Empress Marie-Louise ; 
they shall pass to her son and to his descendants in 
the direct line. The Prince, her son, shall take in 
future the title of Prince of Parma, Piacenza, and 
Guastalla. 

Article V. — All the Powers undertake to use their 
good offices with the States of Barbary to secure 
respect for the flag of Elba, and with that purpose 
their relations with those States shall be assimilated 
to those of France. 

Article VI. — There shall be reserved, in the terri- 
tories which by these presents he has renounced, to 
his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, for himself and 
his family, domains or annuities upon the Great Book 
of the Public Debt, producing a revenue of two 
millions five hundred thousand francs, free of all 
charges and deductions. These domains or annuities 
shaU belong entirely to the Princes or Princesses of his 
family, who may dispose of them as they shall think 
proper. They shall be so shared among them that 
each shall have following revenues : — 

Madame Mere, 300,000 francs; King Joseph and 
his wife, 500,000 francs; King Louis, 200,000 francs; 
Queen Hortense and her children, 400,000 francs; 
King Jerome and his wife, 500,000 francs ; the Princess 
Elisa (Bacciochi), 300,000 francs ; the Princess Pauline 
(Borghese), 300,000 francs. 

The Princes and Princesses of the house of the 
Emperor Napoleon shall retain, as well, the real and per- 



APPENDIX. 251 

sonal property of every kind whatsoever, which they 
shall possess by public and individual right, and the 
annuities which they shall also enjoy (as individuals). 

Article VII. — The pension of the Empress Jose- 
phine shall be reduced to a million in domains, or in 
inscription upon the Great Book ; she shall continue 
in the sole possession of her property, both real and 
personal, with power to dispose of it in accordance 
with the laws of France. 

Article VIII. — A suitable establishment shall be 
formed out of France for Prince Eugene, Viceroy 
of Italy. 

Article IX. — The property which the Emperor 
Napoleon possesses in France, whether in extraordinary 
domains, or in special domains attached to the Crown 
of France ; in funds placed by the Emperor, either on 
the Great Book of the Public Debt, qt in the Bank 
of France, in Forest share, or in any manner what- 
soever, and which his Majesty resigns to the Grown, 
shall be reserved as capital, which shaU not exceed 
two millions, to be employed in donations to persons 
whose names shaU be inscribed upon a list signed 
by the Emperor Napoleon, and which shall be trans- 
mitted to the Government. 

Article X. — All the Grown Jewels shall remain 
in France. 

Article XI.— His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon 
shall replace in the Public Treasury, and the other 
depositaries, all the sums which shall have been taken 



252 NAPOLEON AND MAliiE-LOUISE. 

from them by his command, with the exception of 
that which has been appropriated to the Civil List. 

Article XII. — The debts of the household of his 
Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, such as they existed 
on the day of the signature of the present treaty, shall 
be paid out of the arrears due by the Public Treasury 
to the Civil List, according to the estimate which shall 
be signed by a commission nominated for the purpose. 

Article XIIl. — The obligation of the Mont-Napoleon 
of Milan (Mont-de-Pi^t^) towards creditors, French 
or foreign, shaU be discharged, unless it should be 
otherwise ordained hereafter. 

Article XIV. — All the necessary passports shall be 
delivered to allow free passage to his Majesty the 
Emperor Napoleon, the Empress, the Princes, the 
Princesses, and all the persons of their suite who shall 
desire to accojiipany them, or to establish themselves 
out of France, as well as for their equipages, horses, 
and effects. Consequently, the Allied Powers shall 
furnish officers and troops to escort them. 

Article XY. — The Imperial French Guard shall 
furnish a detachment of from twelve to fifteen 
hundred men of all arms, to serve as an escort to his 
Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, so far as Saint-Tropez, 
the place of his embarkation. 

Article XVI. — A corvette and the necessary vessels 
shall be furnished for the transport of his Majesty the 
Emperor Napoleon and his household ; and the corvette 
shall belong wholly to his Majesty the Emperor. 



APPENDIX. 253 

Article XYII. — The Emperor Napoleon shall take 
with him, and retain as his Guard, four hundred men 
— officers, subalterns, and volunteer soldiers. 

Article XVIII. — No Frenchman who shall have 
accompanied the Emperor Napoleon, or his family, 
shall be held to have lost his rights as a Frenchman 
by not returning in the course of three years ; at least 
he will not be comprised in the exceptions the making 
of which the French Government reserves to itself 
after that term. 

Article XIX. — The Polish troops of all arms shall 
be at liberty to return to Poland, and shall keep their 
arms and baggage as a testimony to their honourable 
services. The officers and soldiers shall retain the 
decorations which they have obtained, and the pen- 
sions that are attached to them. 

Article XX. — The High Allied Powers guarantee 
the existence of the present treaty, and pledge them- 
selves to obtain that it be accepted and guaranteed by 
France. 

Article XXI. — The present Act shall be ratified, 
and the ratifications exchanged at Paris in two days. 

Done at Paris, the 12th of April, 1814. 

(Signed) Metternich, Stadion, Rasou- 

MONSKY, NeSSELRODE, CaSTLE- 
REAGH AND HaRDENBERG, NeY 
AND, CaULAINCOURT. 



254 NAPOLEON AND MABIE-LOUISS. 

No. 7. 

The Proclamation of Marshal Auger eau to 
his Troops. 

Soldiers, 

The Senate, the interpreter of the National 
w'm, weary of the tyrannical yoke of Napoleon Buona- 
parte, pronounced his fall (dechdance), and that of his 
family, on the 2nd of April. 

A new monarchical constitution, strong and liberal, 
and a descendant of our former kings, replace Buona- 
parte and his despotism. 

Your grades, your honours, and your distinctions, 
are secured to you. 

The Corps L^gislatif, the great dignitaries, the 
Marshals, the Generals, and all the Corps of the Great 
Army have given their adherence to the decrees of 
the Senate, and Buonaparte has abdicated the thrones 
of France and Italy, on behalf of himself and his heirs, 
by an Act, dated the 11th of April, at Fontainebleau. 

Soldiers, you are released from your oaths ; you 
are released by the nation in which sovereignty 
resides ; you are again released, were it necessary, hy 
the abdication of a man who, after having immolated 
millions of vidimus to his cruel ambition, has not been 
capable of dying like a soldier ! 

The nation calls Louis XVIII. to the throne. He is 
a Frenchman bom; he will be proud of your glory and 



APPENDIX. 255 

will surround himself with your chiefs : a descendant 
of Henry the Fourth, he will have the heart of his 
ancestor, he will love the soldier and the people. 

Let us, then, swear fidelity to Louis XVIII. and to 
the Constitution which presents him to us; let us 
hoist the true colour of France, before which every 
emblem of a revolution which is ended disa[)pears ; 
and you will soon find a just recompense for your 
noble deeds, in the gratitude and the admiration of 
your King and country. 

Marshal Augereau. 

Uead-^uarters, Valence, 16 April, 1814. 



No. 8. 



The following proclamation was issued, as 1 have 
said, by order of General Dalesme ; I have been assured 
that it was chiefly drawn up by himself: — 

Inhabitants of the Island of Elba, 

Human vicissitudes have brought the Em- 
peror Napoleon into your midst ; and his own choice 
gives him to you as your sovereign. Before entering 
within your walls, your august and new monarch has 
addressed the following wdrds to me, and I hasten to 
impart them to you, because they are the pledge of 
your future welfare : — 

" General ! I have sacrificed my rights to the inte- 
rests of the country, and I have reserved to myself 



256 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

the sovereignty of the Island of Elba, which has been 
consented to by all the Powers. Be so good as to 
make this new state of things known to the inhabi- 
tants, and the choice which I have made of their island 
for my abode, in consideration of the mildness of their 
manners and their climate. Tell them that they shall 
be the constant objects of my warmest interest." 

Elbese ! these words need no comment ; they fix 
your destiny. The Emperor has judged you rightly. 
I owe you this justice, and I render it to you. 

Inhabitants of the Island of Elba, I shall soon be 
going away from you ; and that parting will be pain- 
ful to me, for I love you sincerely ; but the idea of 
your welfare alleviates my regret, and, wherever I may 
be, I shall always be united to this island by the 
memory of the virtues of its inhabitants, and by my 
good wishes for them. 

Dalesme, General of Brigade. 

Porto-Ferrajo, 4th May, 1814. 



No. 9. 



The new flag of the island, adopted by Napoleon, 
was immediately hoisted; and the fact was recorded 
in the following statement : — 

On this present 4th of May, 1814, his Majesty the 
Emperor Napoleon, having taken possession of the 
Island of Elba, General Drouot, Governor of the Island, 



APPENDIX. 257 

in the name of Napoleon caused the flag of the island 
— a white ground, crossed diagonally by a red band 
with three golden bees — to be hoisted on the forts. 
This flag was saluted by the batteries of the forts on 
the coast, the English frigate, Undaunted, and the 
French vessels of war in the port. In witness whereof, 
we, Commissaries of the Allied Powers, have signed 
the above, together with General Drouot, Governor of 
the Island, and General Dalesme, Superior Comman- 
dant of the Island. 

Done at Porto-Ferrajo, the 4th May, 1814. 

[Here follow the signatures of the Commissaries.] 



No. 10. 



Two days after the date of the above document, 
the charge of the Vicar-General of the Island of Elba, 
Joseph-Philippe Arrighi, a distant relative of Napo- 
leon, appeared. 

Joseph-Philippe Arrighi, Honorary Canon of the 
Cathedral of Pisa and the Metropolitan Church of 
Florence, etc. (under the Bishop of Ajaccio, Vicar- 
General of the Island of Elba and Principality of 
Piombino). 

To our well-beloved in the Lord, our brethren 
composing the clergy, and to all the faithful of the 
Island, health and benediction ! 

Divine Providence, which, in its benevolence, irre- 



258 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

sistibly disposes all things, and assigns their destinies 
to the nations, has decreed that, amid the political 
changes of Europe, we should be the subjects of 
Napoleon the Great. 

The Island of Elba, already celebrated for its pro- 
ducts, is about to become illustrious henceforth in 
the history of nations through the homage which it 
renders to its new Prince, whose glory is immortal. 
The Island of Elba takes rank among nations, and its 
narrow territory is ennobled by the name of its 
Sovereign. 

Elevated to so sublime an honour, it receives into 
its bosom the Lord's anointed, and the other distin- 
guished personages who accompany him. 

When his Imperial and Royal Majesty made choice 
of that island for his retreat, he made known to the 
universe in what favour he held it ! 

What wealth is about to inundate our country ! 
What multitudes will flock from all sides to look 
upon a hero ! 

The first day he set foot upon the shore, he pro- 
claimed our destiny and our happiness. 

" I will be a good father," said he ; " be you my 
cherished children." 

Dear Catholics, what tender words! What ex- 
pressions of kindness ! What a pledge of our future 
felicity! Let those words charm our thoughts, and 
may they, being fixed in your minds, afford you an 
inexhaustible source of consolation ! 



APPENDIX, 269 

Let them be repeated by fathers to their children ; 
let the remembrance of those words, by which the 
glory and the prosperity of the Island of Elba are 
secured, be perpetuated from generation to generation. 

Fortunate inhabitants of Porto- Ferrajo, it is with- 
in these walls that the sacred person of his Imperial 
and Royal Majesty will dwell ; among you, renowned 
in all times for the mildness of your character, and 
your affection for your Princes, Napoleon the Great 
will reside ; never forget the favourable idea which he 
has formed of his faithful subjects. 

And you, the faithful in Jesus Christ, conform 
yourselves to your destiny : " non sint schismata inter 
vos, pacem habeta, et Deus paces et dilectionis erit 
vobiscum." 

Let fidelity, gratitude, and submission reign in 
your hearts ! Be you all united in respectful senti- 
ments of love for your Prince, who is rather your 
father than your Sovereign. Celebrate with pious joy 
the goodness of the Lord, who, from all eternity, has 
reserved you to this happy event. 

We command, in consequence, that next Sunday, 
in all the Churches, a solemn Te DeuTn shall be sung, 
in thanksgiving to the Almighty, for the favour which 
he has granted us in the abundance of His mercy. 

Given at the Episcopal Palace of the Island of 
Elba, 6th of May, 1814. 

Arrighi, Vicar-GeneraL 
Francesck> Aa^GaoLETTi, Secretary. 



260 KAPOLEON AND MAKIE-LOUISE. 

No. 11. 

The two following letters furnish incontrovertible 
proof of Lucien's wish to go to the United States 
with his family, and of the negotiations which were 
set on foot between him and the English Cabinet 
with that object. 

Neuilly, June 26, 1815. 
You will have learned, my dear Pauline, the fresh 
misfortune that has befallen the Emperor, who has 
abdicated in favour of his son. He is about to depart 
for the United States, where we shall all join him. 
He is full of courage and calm. I shall endeavour to 
rejoin my family in Rome, in order to take them to 
America. If your health permit, we shall meet again 
there. Adieu, my dear sister. Mamma, Joseph, 
Jerome, and I embrace you. 

Your affectionate brother, 

LuciEN. 
P.S. — I have retired to your pretty place at 
Neuilly. 



No. 12. 
A Letter fnym Gardvaal Fesch to Princess Borghese. 

Paris, June 29, 1815. 

Lucien set out for London yesterday, in order to 
procure passports for the rest of his family. 



APPENDI7. 261 

Joseph will wait for his passports, J6r6me also. 
Lucien has left his second daughter, who has just 
arrived from England ; she will return thither in a 
few days. I foresee that the United States will be 
the goal of these journeys. I think you ought to 
remain in Italy ; but bear in mind that firmness ol 
character is one of the most estimable gifts with 
which the Creator has endowed your family. Sum- 
mon your courage, then, to imitate them in this, and 
place yourself above misfortune; nothing ought to 
hinder you from practising the closest economy. At 
present, we are all poor, even with what remains to us 
from last year. 

Your mother and your brothers embrace you, and 
I do so likewise^ with all my heart, with all the 
attachment which you know I feel. 

Your affectionate Uncle, 

Cardinal Fesch. 



A letter from the Bishop of Hortosia to M. de 
Talleyrand, Archbishop of Rheims, dated from Rome, 
the 15th of March, 1815, and which I give as a side 
light upon history, will elucidate the opinion which 
was professed by certain individuals among the 
high notabilities whom Napoleon bad created during 
his reign, at the epoch of his return to France. 
This letter, which is not known, as it has never been 
printed, is a document of great value in the history oi 
the Hundred Days. 

18 8 3 



262 napoleon and marie-louisk. 

My Lord, 

The flight of Buonaparte is now known ai 
Paris, and we learn that he was at Digne, in Provence, 
on the 24th of this month. 

This flight has given us a more thorough know- 
ledge of the men with whom we live. At first we 
perceived that there were many Jacobins at Rome, 
who were rejoiced at that flight, and spread the most 
absurd rumours ; then came the English, ironically 
pretending to pity us, but afterwards talking of the 
great resources of Buonaparte and the number of 
malcontents in France ; lastly, regarding him as already 
the master of the country. 

Others said, " Why were not vessels of observation 
always there ? " 

And when the reply was made, " But you had 
some there of your own, and you even had a Com- 
missary in the island ? " " Yes," they would say ; 
" but it was not our business to stop him." 

" What, then, were you there for ? " said I, sharply, 
to the son of the famous Lord North, who passes for 
having a great deal of cleverness. "I can conceive 
that if you had seen Buonaparte, by himself, taking a 
sea-trip, you might have ignored it; but when you 
see a flotilla of seven vessels with fifteen hundred 
armed men and cavalry, the first duty of the ships 
which meet it is certainly to demand, Who are you, 
and whither are you going ? Acknowledge, sir, that 
you are to blame. Happily the philanthropic days of 



APPENDIX. 26S 

your sovereign Allies are past ; it is for us to do justic«3 
upon him now. Confess that you are jealous of the 
revival of the prosperity of France ? " 

He answered not a word, and I changed the subject. 

On the other hand, the Court of Rome regarded 
the Government of France as already changed. In 
his proclamations, Buonaparte again appeals to the 
liberty of the people. 

His mother, who is still at Porto Ferrajo with 
Madame Bertrand, said to some English people who 
went to see her, that her son no longer fought to 
conquer ; and, addressing the English, she added, " He 
will offer England an honourable peace." 

These English are detestable ! Almost all those 
who have come to Italy have been to see Buonaparte 
at Elba, and they even go there, now that he has left 
the island, to see his mother. Here, forty-six cases, 
sent by his mother, have been allowed to enter with- 
out inspection. 

Cardinal Fesch said, yesterday, at the house of the 
Marchesa Massini, sister of the Duchesse d'Esclignac, 
that Buonaparte already had an army of fifty thou- 
sand men ; that Massdna was for him, and that thirty 
departments had sent deputations to the Island of 
Elba, to invite him to France ; he spoke in great 
delight. On aU occasions this man shows that he is 
against the Bourbons ; he is not worthy to be Arch- 
bishop of Lyons, and I am sure your Excellency will 
find a means of getting rid of him. He is an enemy 



264 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

of the King; you should hear what his servants say 
of him ! In January, he refused the Ambassador s 
invitation to attend the Mass at the church of St. 
John Lateran, on Santa Lucia's day, in memory of 
Henri IV. Although the Ambassador has behaved 
too well to him, although he has asked him to dinner 
twice, he has not deigned to visit him once. As for 
me, I have not visited him, and even at the Am- 
bassadors I have taken no notice of him. 

Lucien, who, up to this moment, had appeared 
indifierent about his brother, is now urging his cause. 
The day before yesterday, at the house of the Princess 
of Wales, who had just come from Naples, he talked 
in the most unseemly way ; he laid out Buonaparte's 
route, and told how he would be at Grenoble on the 
6th, at Lyons on the 8th, and at Paris on the 15th, 
adding that he must now have an army of eighty 
thousand men. 

This Princess of Wales is like a mad woman ; she 
is going away to-day without having seen Rome, and 
she embarks at Ancona. Yesterday and the day 
before, she had Cardinal Fesch and Lucien, one on her 
right, the other on her left, all the evening; and she 
received only the English and some foreign Ministers, 
not one French person was there. Besides, the Pope 
has made it up with Murat ; that is to say, he has 
yielded and made a step backward. A month ago he 
had the Post at Naples closed, and the letters taken 
by force to the Papal Post. Since then, all communi- 



APPENDIX. 265 

r 

cation was interrupted; but, the day before yesterday, 
we learned with astonishment that the Naples Post 
had been reopened. Your Excellency will see that 
France only obtains nothing. This is no doubt be- 
cause we do not speak here with the firmness and 
dignity which becomes a great Power. 

Lucien Buonaparte, Cardinal Fesch, Louis and 
Madame Buonaparte, are the zealous patrons of this 
Isoard, whom that cowardly Court would like to keep 
as judge-advocate of that of France. He is in con- 
stant correspondence with it, and is soliciting to be 
sent to Rome. His valet-de-chambre, who is expecting 
him, tells every one this. The Envoys Plenipotentiary 
of Austria and Spain obtain all that they demand, 
because they deal continually m threats. 

What made the Pope yield to Murat? It was his 
having ordered his Consul to ask for his passports, and 
said, in a letter which he wrote to his Holiness, that 
he demanded passage for some troops. This, however, 
was refused, another route being indicated. It would 
not be inexpedient that his Majesty should be in- 
formed of all these matters. 

This letter should have reached you, my Lord, 
earlier; but at the Legation they had not the good- 
ness to give me notice that M. de Beaufrecourt was 
passing through, and would be for a week in Rome; 
for he dined at the Ambassador's where I was not. 

A thousand affectionate respects to your Excellency. 

Bishop of Hoetosia. 



^66 NAPOLEON AND MARIE-LOUISE. 

p,S, — The Pope has not replied to the letter of the 
Bishops, sent by Consalvi, because of your having 
signed it as the titulary of your See ; otherwise it is 
favourably regarded. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



9 624 897 3 



